"Dear BSFG members and supporters

Last Thursday, BSFG conducted its 2019 AGM, at which our new committee was elected. I am both
honoured and challenged by members accepting my nomination as President for the
coming year, and extremely grateful to the other incoming members who have accepted positions
on the committee.

At the AGM, I read an extract from Richard Flanagan's speech to the large crowd at the Canberra
climate rally on Sunday 5th May. You can read his full speech by accessing the Guardian website*, and
if you do so, I hope it might inspire you to tackle the climate emergency head on!

Briefly, three comments Flanagan made stand out in my mind.

​"After May 18th it matters even more to press whoever wins to recognise this crisis is not an issue. It
is THE issue".

"I am here today to say that there is hope. That the Franklin River flows free and Adani will be
stopped. These things happen, because at a certain point enough people say there are things that
matter more than the politics of money."

"There is no power on this earth that can resist an idea whose time has come.  It is a time to act and it is for us to act. Because there is no-one else and there is no other time."

Every day in the news, I read about the arrogance of the politicians who think they have been given
a mandate to implement their climate-wrecking policies and open up new coal mines, put renewable energy projects on the back burner in favour of the fossil fuel corporations that bought them victory, and condemn our children to a world with a bleak future.

And then, I remember Flanagan's words, and it makes me more determined to do something. So I
write a letter to the paper, or I have a serious head-to-head discussion with a friend who is a
conservative voter. On my own, I might reach out to a few people, but with your collective help, we
can do so much more. Politicians will listen to a group with several hundred members, because that
is significant.

If you are one of our long time members, I thank you for your ongoing support, and encourage you
to come along to our bi-monthly meetings (4th Thursday of July, September, November, March and
May). If you are on our contact list, please consider becoming a member - $25 per year - and also
coming along to our meetings, where we try to arrange a varied array of guest speakers or films on
environmental/sustainability issues.

Please check out our website (www.bsfg.org.au) where you will find information about our action
groups, and other articles of environmental importance. There are details on the website about how
you can join BSFG, and I look forward to your support as we try to influence the political debate in
Australia around the climate emergency.

Sincerely


Peter Holmes (President)

"I won’t beat around the bush. Our campaign to stop Adani just got a whole lot more complicated.

The Morrison Government won the election with no plan to end to digging up and burning coal.

But we’ve been here before. No-one ever said that taking on nature-wrecking corporations in the most profitable industry in history would be easy.

Right now, Adani and the Murdoch press are trying to spin the election result as some sort of resurgence for love of coal.

We call rubbish. The vast majority of Australians know there is no future for coal. There’s just a handful of billionaires trying to make more money at the expense of everyone else’s children.

Adani’s mine would open the Galilee Basin to eight more climate-wrecking coal mines. If they all went ahead, it would be the biggest expansion of coal mining on planet Earth. And burning coal is the worst cause of climate damage.

Clive Palmer, Gautam Adani and Gina Rinehart are selling false hope to regional communities. The reality?

Coal is on the way out. It’s a collapsing industry without a future. Don’t just take it from us. Last week BHP said burning coal will be phased out “sooner than we think.” China Stone put their proposed coal mine next to Adani’s on hold. And a new report says global investment in coal tumbled by 75% in just three years.

But for Adani, they have too much invested already to give up on the mine. And they’re sniffing out more public subsidies to make their mine scrape through. They are dead-set on digging and burning that coal.
They’re happy to trample the rights of Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners who are in court today challenging Adani’s Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

In coming weeks, the Queensland government will choose – let Adani destroy wildlife and water – or not.

There are two critical approvals the Queensland government just set deadlines for – management plans for endangered wildlife and water. Adani’s previous plans were rejected as inadequate by scientists and the Queensland government.

The water plan was waved through under political pressure by the Federal Environment Minister on election eve, but now must be signed off by the Queensland government.

This Friday, the Queensland government will choose the fate of the finch. Let a billionaire bulldoze the last remaining habitat of the endangered Black-Throated Finch? Or protect this beautiful bird, and everything it symbolises as the “canary in the coal mine”?

Adani’s plan is to destroy critical finch habitat, and then later on protect “offset” habitat on the site of billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposed new mine. That’s the man who decided to, in his words, “polarise the electorate” by dropping $60 million on advertising during the federal election campaign.

On 13 June, the Queensland government will choose to approve or reject Adani’s water management plan.

Adani’s Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan (GDEMP) is supposed to protect vital ecosystems – like the Doongmabulla Springs near Adani’s proposed mine site. But expert water scientists have raised serious concerns about Adani’s plans to suck billions of litres of water from Queensland’s precious inland aquifers.

The mining giant plans to drain 12.5 billion litres of precious river water every year, nearly as much as all local farmers combined. It threatens ancient springs – 160 wetlands that provide permanent water during drought. It would also leave behind six unfilled coal pits that would drain millions of litres of groundwater forever.

It’s bad enough that the federal government rushed through this dodgy plan on the eve of the election. But with 65% of Queensland suffering through a worsening drought, for the Queensland government to approve it would be a travesty.

On 18-19 June, ACF will take on the Environment Minister in the federal court.

In our crowd-funded court case, ACF is challenging the federal government because we believe it broke its own laws over the water-guzzling pipeline Adani needs for its climate-wrecking mine. We will also challenge whether the Minister properly considered thousands of public submissions, as required by the law.

We think we have a chance of winning.

I have to be honest with you though that the bad news is that, even if we win, the Minister can re-approve the pipeline by following the “proper process,” which under Australia’s weak current environmental laws, has only weak checks on the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. Under current laws, the Minister does not even have to consider climate change.

I’m sorry I can’t be the bearer of better news. But Adani can’t start digging yet. And our elected representatives’ decisions on water, the finch and climate pollution have consequences.
​
Birdsong. Crystal clear water in ancient aquifers. Oceans teeming with fish and corals. We hold these things in trust for future generations of children and wildlife. They matter.

Christian
Christian Slattery
Stop Adani Campaigner

P.S. To take on the nature-wrecking corporations and the coal industry, people everywhere need to get off the sidelines. That’s why we’ve decided it’s time to scale up our local ACF Community groups from 27 to 70 groups. Real power comes from people working together in local areas AND on coordinated national campaigns.Join a webinar this Thursday 30 May or Thursday 13 June to learn how to join or start a local ACF Community group.

This month, the Benalla Food Co-operative will have been operating for exactly eight years.

​We started in May 2011 with 12 members, offering 20 different products and opening once per month. We used old wooden wardrobes for food storage and didn’t have a computer. News spread mainly by word of mouth, along with an article in the Benalla Ensign.

We now have 84 members, offer 115 products and recently commenced opening four times per month.  In the coming month we will see our 4,000th customer shop at the food co-op.

We have decided to celebrate our 8th year with a social function where we will share a meal and a recipe.
​
It is heartening to see many young families attend the Co-op. We all enjoy the many benefits of good quality food products, shopping in a relaxed friendly atmosphere and knowing we are contributing to less food miles and packaging, and where possible, supporting local producers.

Christine Holmes,
​Food Co-op Coordinator

This article is based on Christine's report to the BSFG Annual Report presented at the AGM on 23 May 2019. 

Our AGM on Thursday 23 May went very well with all positions being filled at the elections conducted by Mayor Scott Upston.  Thank you to John Lloyd for chairing the meeting prior to the elections.

We welcome the new committee of management and thank two new members Kay and Richard for accepting nomination, Peter Holmes for accepting the President Role and Wendy for becoming the Treasurer.  And thank you to James Webster for accepting, in absentia for the position of Vice President.

President: Peter Holmes
Secretary: Peter Maddock
Treasurer: Wendy Baker
Vice President: James Webster
Committee members:  
Bulk Food Coop representative Christine Holmes and Kevin Smith, David Blore, Kay Blore, and Richard Felton.

Peter Holmes spoke about how reading an article in The Guardian by Richard Flanagan influenced his decision to nominate for President, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/05/im-willing-to-go-to-jail-to-stop-adani-and-save-our-beloved-country-will-you-stand-with-me.

Our guest speaker Lance Lloyd, Restoration Scientist (Aquatic Ecology), Winton Wetlands Committee of Management, gave us a good insight into efforts at Winton Wetlands to bring about the ecological regeneration of the catchment.

A reminder again that we are planning for a Newsletter in June so could you send articles to me by the end of May. 


Peter Maddock
Secretary

SWANPOOL ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019 (PG)
​
Feature films, documentaries, guest speakers!
Three sessions with breaks for afternoon tea and an evening meal:

Session One: Dr Tilman Ruff and film ‘System Error’
Session Two: Prof Samantha Hepburn and Short Enviro Film Fest
Session Three: Prof Tim Reeves and film ‘2040’

Booking essential on TryBooking.
Phone 0498 007 988 for enquiries.
​
Afternoon tea and dinner included.
Catering by Swanpool Catering Team.

The 2019 Benalla Sustainable Future Group AGM will be held on Thursday May 23rd, 2019 at 7.30pm in the Meeting Room, Benalla Uniting Church, Carrier Street Benalla, opposite the Coles Car park.

Benalla Rural City Mayor Scott Upston will conduct the election of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and at least four Committee Members.

Our guest speaker is Lance Lloyd, Restoration Scientist (Aquatic Ecology), Winton Wetlands Committee of Management who will speak to us about the Ecological Renewal of the Winton Wetlands Reserve.

The ecological renewal of the 8,750-hectare Reserve is a project of national scientific, cultural and environmental significance. Located in north east Victoria, between the regional cities of Benalla and Wangaratta, the Reserve is a mix of wetlands, grasslands, woodlands and forest.  The project is aiming to connect people to nature through its ecological renewal, as well as with education and tourism programs onsite. The project has many aspects contributing to the establishment of a site of ecological, cultural, social and economic importance.  This ecological renewal work is not a short-term project, but will take decades to be fully realised, and is aimed to enhance natural processes to ensure the restoration is sustainable in the long term.

Lance will discuss the ecological renewal aspects of the project which is built upon the Restoration and Monitoring Strategic Plan (Barlow 2011). The current science team has developed a range of specific management and monitoring plans that have been developed for fish and other fauna, waterbirds, water quality, aquatic plants, revegetation and feral animals and weeds.

The science program has undertaken multiple projects which contribute to the onsite ecological renewal of the site, and, more generally, contribute to the knowledge about wetland and woodland function and restoration.

Lance is also an Honorary Research Fellow at Federation University and has over 30 years experience in consulting, government, and university research into aquatic ecosystems and their management. Lance has a long history at the site, working there in the 1990’s with the predecessor of DELWP and the RWC (as Principal Water Quality Scientist) on the algal problems and the restoration of Lake Mokoan. He oversees the science and sustainability programs at Winton Wetlands, working with the science panel, ranger, staff and volunteers to achieve ecological renewal of the site.

Lance will speak after the business of our AGM including the election of office bearers and committee.  A light supper will be available at the end of the meeting.

I encourage you to come along to our AGM and hear about this important wetland restoration project, https://wintonwetlands.org.au

Peter Maddock (0418 135 330)
Secretary