EarthChat

The Rising Tide of community activism against the fossil fuel export industry has a local champion in Peter Gaffney. Rising Tide is an activist community group focused on real action to address the climate change challenge. Actions are direct and dramatic for this is the challenge of our time. “We are the rising tide of ordinary people, called by extraordinary times. We are a diverse movement demanding Australia honours our commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. We are prepared to take whatever peaceful actions within our power to defend the climate.” Time is short and the stakes are high as our climate change escalates. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says… “2023 is a year of reckoning. It must be a year of game-changing climate action. We need disruption to end the destruction. No more baby steps. No more excuses. No more greenwashing. No more bottomless greed of the fossil fuel industry and its enablers.” Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and gas. The emissions from these exports dwarf our domestic climate pollution. The Port of Newcastle is the biggest coal port in the world, and Australia’s single largest contributor to the climate crisis. So Rising Tide's action focus is on coal - stop expanding coal mines, and stop exporting coal to become someone else’s emissions problem. That problem impacts us all. Last year Rising Tide staged a blockade of the Port of  Newcastle. Newcastle is the largest coal export port in the world. A 30 hour blockade that attracted committed people from infants to 90 year-olds. Peter Gaffney is a committee member of BEAM Mitchell Environment Group. Peter was really enthusiastic about direct action in Newcastle last year and is now on the Victorian organising committee of Rising Tide. On EarthChat this week,  Peter shares about the “fire in his belly” over coal and climate action with Peter Lockyer. 

This week on Earth Chat our guest is Sean Dooley from Birdlife Australia. Sean has been involved with Birdlife Australia for many years and is an expert on our local birds and ways to accurately identify them. Sean and Marie will be discussing Birdlife Australia's impressively large citizen science project, their annual Aussie bird count which has just been launched. This year's count will be from 20th to 26th October. Last year 57,000 participants counted a total of 4,117,293 birds in a week. Go to https://birdlife.org.au/ to download information and register now for the count. The birdlife app registers your location and count. It has details of birds and their calls which is helpful in identifying birds. Sean has written for TV comedies including Spicks and Specks. His first published book was 2005's The Big Twitch, an account of his attempt to break the Australian record for the number of birds seen in Australia in a single year. He has written for The Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is the editor of Australian Birdlife magazine.

This week's guest is the amazing Sally Quinn, who for over 20 years has been on the cutting edge of social enterprises in the circular economy. Sally is the CEO and Co-founder of Green Collect, a pioneering social enterprise in sustainability and inclusive employment and training practices. Over 20 years she has led the enterprise as a provider of resource recovery services through innovation and best practice in the circular economy. Sally has taken the enterprise through the phases of start-up, growth and scale, enabling deep impact by delivering services to a wide base of clients across Melbourne. At the heart of her work is a dedication to creating meaningful and supportive work for people facing barriers to employment, such as homelessness, disability and refugee experiences. As Chair of SENVIC, the peak body for social enterprise in Victoria, Sally works across industries to help create a fair and inclusive society through the ‘business for good’ movement. Sally joins Tim Budge on EarthChat to talk about Green Collect, its growth over 20 years and its impact on sustainability, reduction of landfill and other social benefits. We will also be finding out a bit more about what makes her tick and the importance of the circular economy in our modern and wasteful society. There is lots to listen to and think about.

Nagambie locals and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority are celebrating 30 years of revegetation work with local native grey box trees grassy woodlands (trees and understory) on Friday. Classified as an endangered environmental community in 2010, Grey Box and derived Grassy Woodlands are iconic. This is our vegetation backyard in the Goulburn Valley. They have enjoyed 30 years of ecological restoration, and deserve some celebration. Celebrate! Friday Sept 12th, Somewhere Café on the Nagambie Lake, 9.30 to 12. But here’s the catch. At the same time, the Elloura Estate in Nagambie, on Vickers Road and reaching North to the lake edge, are again wanting to remove a healthy stand of aged mature Grey Box trees. The irony is breathtaking. Ellouramarkets itself as an exceptional masterplanned community…offering stunning water or park views. It takes so long to grow a stand of Grey Box trees and associated grassy woodlands(and a park view), but a housing estate wants to bulldoze a healthy cluster of this woodland. …Trees that are a focus for the estate (in a creative mindset) and offer shelter in hot weather and a changing climate. Exceptional planning? The 51 trees campaign saved these trees less than a decade ago, and now they return to the firing line. Donna Winter-Irving is an active Nagambie resident and neighbour to the development. Donna joins EarthChat to chat about the forthcoming Grey Box and Grassy Woodland event, and share her concerns about the threatened healthy cluster of mature Grey Box trees on the Elloura Estate. Lend us your ears for an hour - sizzle like a sausage. 

Ravish Sran commissioned Peter Lockyer to build a straw bale house in his family village in Punjab, from 2016 to practical completion in 2020. Ravish was impressed with straw bale houses in Victoria, and together with his mother liked one in Nagambie. “This house in India can demonstrate energy efficient housing”.  Passive solar design, rainwater harvesting and in-ground brick tanks, straw bale walls of rice straw, saved from being burnt as “rubbish”. And rooftop solar. Completed, it does attract interest. But does it change housing design? What is the interest, and are there Government incentives to build energy efficient houses in India? Is this just the province of the wealthy? Ravish Sran joins Peter Lockyer on EarthChat and they discuss THAT house, and opportunities and barriers to smarter house design and construction. Want an idea of what it looks like in practice? Here is fun video about the house.

This week Peter Lockyer and Marie Gerrard discuss the very serious long term and widespread damage being caused by military activity both  in war and peace time. We will examine the recent military developments such as drones and the  more traditional forms of conflict. We will try to relate this damage to the populations who are so badly impacted.

There are always interesting goings on at "the Arb", and, it’s always a joy to catch up with the passionate and innovative folk who work there. Ruth is delighted to welcome development manager, Cathy Olive, and grassy ground cover restoration coordinator, Bronte Haines to this week's EarthChat. Two remarkable people among many caring for the Arboretum, including a group of committed volunteers, who lovingly contribute to the Arb’s great work and its beautiful environment. In consultation with local Traditional Custodians, (The Taungurung), the Arb offers an excellent example of thoughtful land regeneration and conservation including protecting threatened species, running one of only three Victorian Seed Banks, and developing an educational role in local schools and community to encourage a greater connection to the natural environment. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit the Arb, it is a must! Only 160 kms from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, it’ll take you under two hours to get there. And it offers 24 hour access 365 days a year. The retail plant Nursery is open Monday & Thursday from 12 - 4 pm from late March - check the website for the date the Nursery opens each year. For the Arb’s full history, achievements, and events, It’s well worth a ‘surf’. To help the Arb care for the bush and learn new skills you might like to join their team of fabulous volunteers on a Monday and/or Thursday, working in the Nursery, or in the Grounds, or in the Seedbank. Just fill out the form on their website. Donations are also tax deductible since the Arb is a not-for-profit, charitable incorporation.

This week, Tim Budge talks with Alex Kelly, an artist, organiser and filmmaker based on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. Working across film, theatre, communications strategy and troublemaking, Alex purposefully connects the disciplines of art and social change. This EarthChat conversation is part of an ongoing series of programs with people who are seeking to be changemakers/ activists or just community leaders. Together this week we explore Alex's work as an activist and an artist and how that has led her to be involved in such as issues as indigenous affairs, climate change and Gaza. Alex has been involved in some fascinating and cutting-edge work, she was impact producer on The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone, In My Blood it Runs and Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything. Alex has been supported by a Churchill Fellowship, a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship and a Bertha Challenge Fellowship. Alex’s artistic focus is the futuring practice The Things We Did Next, a hybrid of theatre, imagination and democracy and is a member of the Unquiet Collective. Read more about Alex here and listen in for a fascinating and inspiring conversation.

This week, Marie Gerrard is chatting about a new group in our area. The group is currently setting up a store of donated medical and educational goods that are being discarded by our own health and educational institutions but are greatly needed by our International neighbourhood. Jenny Foster from the Rotary Club of Change Makers Cub together with a highly motivated group that will be sending container loads of carefully sorted goods that the recipients have indicated that they both need but also can service and have the training to use. There are benefits to our neighbouring countries, since this program will reduce the amount of useful equipment that will end in landfill. Join us for what is an interesting conversation.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) is the largest grassroots federation of environmental activists in the world and currently active in more than 70 countries, with over 2 million supporters and members world wide. FoE began 56 years ago in the USA (San Francisco in 1969), and 53 years ago FoE set up its first Australian office in Adelaide (1972), and a year later (1973) the Melbourne office was set up. The national Australian office was established in 1974. Since 1973, Friends of the Earth Australia (FoE) has defended and protected forests and waterways, stood as allies in the struggles for First Nations’ self determination and land rights, opposed uranium mining, protested the destruction of war, and kept fossil fuels in the ground. FoE takes a community empowerment approach to its campaigns. FoE has built thriving social enterprises that challenge the status quo, promotes sustainable consumption, puts workers first and helps fund environmental and social action. FoE doesn’t have a CEO or bosses, they strive for anti-hierarchy and practice consensus decision-making. Each group has the autonomy to do whatever they need to protect the natural environment as long as they act in accordance with these principles. In this week’s EarthChat Ruth Yeatman celebrates ‘Friends of the Earth’ (FoE) with long time member and campaigns’ coordinator, Cam Walker, who has tirelessly worked with the organization since 1989. Cam Walker is responsible for co-ordinating FoE's various campaigns and projects. He has worked for decades on grassroots environmental campaigns, starting with the Franklin River in 1982, and with indigenous communities and organisations. Over the past 8 years Cam’s key priority has been to gain a permanent ban on the process of fracking in Victoria, a rebuild of the Climate Change Act, adoption of strong emission reduction targets, and a strong renewable energy target (VRET) in the state of Victoria. These successful campaigns were effective because they built strong alliances with rural and regional communities. In the last three years Cam has focused on identifying forests of high conservation value in the Victorian high country and campaigning for their protection, and working towards an early end to native forest logging across the state. A long community campaign led to the Victorian government announcing it will end all native forest logging in the east of the state by January 2024. Cam spent a decade working with FoE International, with experience in environmental campaigning in Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America.Cam is clearly is one of Australia’s treasures (and the world’s). Deep gratitude for his sustained commitment, courage, and incredibly hard work supporting our Environment for near half a century! Listen in! You can follow Cam’s Twitter feed at @Cam_Walker. For more information about Friends of the Earth Melbourne : melbournefoe.org.au

This week Tim, Jill and guests will be discussing biodiversity. Biodiversity is a term that is used frequently today - but what does it really mean and why is it so important to many aspects of our lives?  Essentially it is all the variety and variability of all the different life forms on Earth ie plants and animals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fungi and other micro-organisms such as bacteria.  The complex interactions of the species and the balance of natural processes and lifecycles make it possible for us to survive into the future meaningfully. They explore some of the reasons that biodiversity of species and the health of both land and water ecosystems is declining and why urgent action is needed to reverse this trend.  We will also explore some of the excellent projects that are underway in various parts of the world and closer to home in our State and region that offer significant hope for threatened species and their habitats.  There are many opportunities to support and become involved in these and our guests will elaborate more on this. Liz Downes is a forest activist, researcher and campaigner and a Director of the Rainforest Information Centre. The campaign she has mainly been working on in recent years is located in Ecuador where mining and other threats are threatening the Equatorial forests in one of thy world's most biodiverse regions where we are still discovering the species that exist there. Any habitat loss can have severe consequences for species survival and for future generations especially as we lose insect and pollinator species that impact food the health of the entire ecosystem.  Also of interest is MRAG (Melbourne Rainforest Action Group) - https://rainforestactiongroup.org/  Vanessa Malandrin is an agricultural scientist, former EarthChat presenter and leading BEAM member is currently the Facilitator of the South West Goulburn Landcare Network which consists of 5 sub-groups across the Mitchell Shire.  We hear from Vanessa about the important work in the region on biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration as well as opportunities to become involved in some exciting projects. Other sources of useful information are: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2024/05/protecting-our-pollinators/ (Protecting our pollinators - Australian Geographic) https://euroaarboretum.com.au/matchstick_grasshopper/ (Bringing Endangered bugs back to Taungurung grasslands  – Euroa Arboretum) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/13/a-horror-movie-sharks-and-octopuses-among-200-species-killed-by-toxic-algae-off-south-australia

This week Marie and Ruth chat with recently retired shire Councillor Rob Eldridge about some wonderful possibilities in Mitchell Shire for developing our opportunities to set aside significant areas of green space for the future. They start with the proposed Wallan Wallan  wetland park. This is an opportunity that must not be missed as the population of this area grows. There is also a great discussion on some of the restrictions to the actual powers of the Shire, what we can and cannot do. 

With Dutton and much of the Coalition voted out of parliament, we are saved from going down a fraught path of nuclear power, and the voters of Australia have strongly rejected Trumpism here. But there are some big challenges for Australia for the resurgent Labor Government. For starters, ramping up the transmission linkage of renewables, upgrading our environmental protection laws, and getting serious about a national conversation on a more sustainable water policy. Retired academic and strategic thinker Alan Jenkins rejoins Peter Lockyer on EarthChat to reflect on what the election means, and some challenges in the coming 3 years.

Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are policy realities in this current federal election. Both major parties support them in one way or another. The Leader of the Opposition has been open in saying a Coalition government would build nuclear reactors in Australia to replace “ageing coal power stations”. Both Labor and the Coalition are committed to AUKUS, which would see Australia supplied with eight nuclear-powered submarines, at a cost of approximately $360,000,000,000. Neither party is keen to discuss how they will store spent nuclear fuel, operational waste or the decommissioning of a sub’s reactor at the end of service life, although the waste will need to be stored in highly secured facilities for over 10,000 years and Australia does not have any such facility. Although nuclear waste volumes are relatively small, they remain dangerous for extremely long periods, requiring multi-generational planning and robust political and technical solutions. Both parties assure Australians that their policies are safe, well thought out and needed, but is this the case? On EarthChat this week, Tim and Ruth talk to Prof Ian Lowe, AO about nuclear options. Ian Lowe is an emeritus professor in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University. Among the 16 books he has published, Long Half-Life analyses the nuclear industry in Australia. He has been involved in many advisory bodies, including the expert advisory group for the South Australian Nuclear Royal Commission, and for twelve years represented the public interest on the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council. He is also Patron of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN). Read more about Ian on his Wikipedia page, or an ABC article here. Listen to Ian's musical choice "We'll all go together when we go!" here, it is quite something.

Sustainable House Day (SHD) is an Australian event showcasing (mostly) recently completed energy efficient houses. Be they owner-built or builder-built, there are lots of attractive and efficient and aesthetically stimulating houses to check out near you. What is a Sustainable House? Where does SHD come from? What can we expect from thousands of people checking out hundreds of houses across Australia? Is there an impact of mainstream commercial builds. Peter Lockyer and Tim Budge are joined by a couple of local people whose houses will be on display. Mitchell Shire has 7 houses registered on Sustainable House Day, and they are all very different, from renovations, to new build to retrofit. Mitchell Shire Council is a partner too of the day. Check out SHD here and click here for a list of the local houses. Mitchell Shire Council also has some more information here. The Council will be running an EV webinar on the 8th May.

This EarthChat, Marie and Ruth chat with to Norbert Ryan (President, Wallan Environment Group) about what we hope to hear in the policies being put forward by parties standing for our federal elections. The discussion includes our wish lists for a healthy environment going forward. Together they cover a wide variety of forward looking environmental policies and look at the very varied parts of a Shire like Mitchell and how they can be improved.

Who started the war in Gaza? When did it start, 7 October 2023, or much earlier? What is the fighting about and who is involved? Why should it matter to us and what has it got to do with the environment and the global movement for climate justice? This week, Tim Budge and Ruth Yeatman talk to Dr Rachel Coghlan about this conflict. It is almost a year since she was last on EarthChat and in that time, another 20,000 Palestinians have died and peace seems an impossibility. People in Gaza are starving and words like genocide and war crimes are regularly raised. Why has the world let this conflict continue? Is the international response and media outlook different for Palestinians, compared to the invasion of Ukraine? What has been the impact of this war on the land and environment in Gaza? Rachel Coghlan did her PhD research in Gaza (palliative care) and has stayed in contact with health workers and friends there. She does what she can and works tirelessly to make sure their voices are heard across the world. She has seen how the reality there gets portrayed in a very different way back in Australia. On this week's EarthChat, we will explore what is going on in Gaza and discuss the "narratives" that sit behind how news of the conflict is interpreted and analysed here. We will also ask "why have so many groups, including politicians, universities and even churches, been silent in response to evidence of genocide?" The good news, for Rachel, is that there is also the possibility of solidarity, and she wonders if this conflict provides an opportunity to rebuild or strengthen global solidarity and to move beyond retaliation and escalating violence? Want to learn more? Join us on Tuesday's EarthChat. Read more about the conflict here and some groups involved in working for a just peace (Jews Against the Occupation), a church group. (PIEN) and the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN)

Now more than ever is the need to foster and strengthen local social connections to create a sense of belonging and community, and to create easily accessible and affordable opportunities for people to enrich their lives through connections they might not otherwise make. This week’s EarthChat focuses on Community (or Neighbourhood Houses) which profoundly contribute to the overall strength and resilience of local communities by fostering social connections and offering learning and recreational opportunities. Community Houses facilitate community engagement for people of all ages and backgrounds enabling a sense of belonging - a much needed antidote to social isolation in these times - and generally supporting good community mental health. Our focus is the Seymour and District Community House who since 1981 have been providing access to resources and information, such as job training, ‘occasional childcare program’, support for people with disabilities, and more recently a food share program, and a community garden which is lovingly tended by children from the childcare program. Manager, Krystal Bolejko, (the one paid worker), and President of SDCH’s volunteer Board, Larissa Lambert, fill us in about the House’s offerings, and what inspires them to do this work, along with their exciting future plans to further enrich the offerings already available to the Seymour and District Community.

Marie Gerrard and Ruth Yeatman interview Ian Dempsey about the plans to build the Inland Rail, especially through Broadford. Ian Dempsey is a local Broadford citizen with a long record of activism in Mitchell Shire particularly in environmental issues. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Southern Mitchell as environmental chair. He is also involved in the Rotary Environmental Sustainability Group. He has recently become a member of Mitchell Environmental Advisory Committee. On this week's show, we will be concentrating on the  environmental effects of the Inland Rail in Broadford with work scheduled to start soon. There are obvious benefits to our region in using trains for transporting freight rather than large trucks, but we need to value our environment as well.  Is there a better option, or how can we support train cargo plans AND the local environment. Listen in!

Not many people may have heard about Footy for Climate, but it is a ground-breaking organisation. It was founded by two AFLM players, Tom Campbell (Melbourne FC, St Kilda, North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs) and Jasper Pittard (North Melbourne and Port Adelaide) in the wake of the 2020 Black Summer bushfires. Tom and Jasper were North Melbourne teammates when their training was forced indoors due to hazardous air quality caused by those fires. This led to a conversation about climate change and the role AFL and AFLW players can play in supporting the communities being impacted by extreme weather caused by climate change. It is now a thriving organisation with a vision to have positive climate action as an embedded part of AFL culture, actively protecting the future of the game through our members, our partners and the wider football community. With the start of the 2025 season upon us, co-founder Tom, Campbell and CEO Lex Lynch are on EarthChat this week to talk about Footy for Climate, how they work with clubs and players at all levels and how clubs everywhere are adapting to the impact of climate on our game. It is a thought-provoking  thoughtful and important conversation. More Information? Footy for Climate website and Facebook page A great article on climate change from Dockers Captain Alex Pearce