"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)

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

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

The Annual General Meeting of Benalla Sustainable Future Group will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 28th June at the Benalla Uniting Church, Carrier Street Benalla, opposite the Coles car park.

After accepting the minutes of the previous AGM and presentation of reports all elected positions will be declared open and there will be an election of President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary plus a minimum of four committee members and a nominated member from the Food Co-Op.

This year John Lloyd will not be accepting nominations for President nor the Committee as his work with Renewable Energy Benalla is occupying him fully.  So please give consideration to nominating for an Office Bearer or Committee position.  Contact me if you require further information about standing for a position.

Our guest speaker for the meeting is Leigh Ewbank who is the current Act on Climate coordinator for Friends of the Earth. He has also worked on the Yes 2 Renewables campaign and was very much involved with campaigning against the anti-wind farm lobby. Yes 2 Renewables was the driving force behind the campaign to restore fair wind farm laws in Victoria, and spearheaded the case for a Victorian Renewable Energy Target. Leigh has a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) from RMIT University, Melbourne. He has been engaged in climate and energy debates for years and more recently has lectured in the Urban Planning and Energy and Energy Policy and Management courses at RMIT University.

We look forward to seeing you at our 2018 AGM. 
Regards,
Peter Maddock
Secretary
0418 135 330

The BSFG AGM will be held on June 22nd, 2017 at 7.30pm in the Meeting Room, Uniting Church, Carrier Street Benalla, opposite the Coles Car park.
After accepting the minutes of the previous AGM and presentation of reports all elected positions will be declared open and there will be an election of President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary plus four committee members including a nominated member from the Food Co-Op.
Instead of a Guest speaker for the AGM this year we will be showing the 30-minute documentary Guarding the Galilee, a film about the epic fight to stop Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.  Presented by Queensland born actor Michael Caton, Guarding the Galilee is a documentary on the battle to stop the biggest coal mine in Australian history, Adani’s Carmichael project. The film features farmers, dive instructors and boat operators all concerned about the impacts that Adani’s mine would have on water resources, climate and the reef.
The award-winning documentary team capture the raw beauty of Central Queensland, where the Adani Carmichael mine threatens essential water resources.  After the screening, there will be an opportunity for discussion about what we’ve seen and what can be done to Stop Adani.
 
10 key moments so far in the fight to #stopadani
1.            February 2014, Court actions to protect the Reef
2.            May 2014, Global bank drops Adani
3.            January 2015, Voters vote for the Reef
4.            March 2015, Traditional Owners oppose Adani
5.            April 2015, Adani’s lies revealed in court
6.            August 2015, Court overturns Adani approval
7.            August 2015, Australian banks join international banks, say ‘no’ to Adani
8.            November 2015, Limits placed on dredge dumping and port expansions
9.            June 2016, Controversy over public loan and protests during Gautam Adani visit
10.          March 2017, 90 prominent Australians oppose Adani mine, delegation visits India
11.          May 2017, Queensland Government refuses to facilitate public money for Adani
 
The meeting has an opportunity to begin a local action.
3 suggested ways to take action to Stop Adani.

1. Join, start or grow a Stop Adani group in your community
2. Don’t give $1B of public money to Adani! Organise an action at your MP’s office
3. Adopt your local Westpac branch: make sure they don’t loan money to Adani. (Achieved)

On 28 April Westpac announced a new climate policy which effectively rules out financing the Adani Group's giant coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2017 Benalla Sustainable Future Group AGM and our screening of Guarding the Galilee which is presented as part of the StopAdani campaign;

 Download Flyer                      .

The 2016 Annual General Meeting of BSFG will be held on Thursday 25th August at 7:30 pm in the Uniting Church, Carrier Street, Benalla.

Our guest speaker is John Liddell from Beyond Zero Emissions who will be speaking about BZE's Renewable Energy Super Power Report which has been produced as part of BZE's Zero Carbon Australia plan and outlines Australia’s potential to be a global renewable energy superpower of the future. Australia's economic renewable energy resources are greater than its coal, oil, gas and uranium resources combined.

The report highlights the fact that the world is transitioning to renewables and that the industrial leaders of the renewable energy era will be those countries with massive inexpensive renewable energy resources like Australia.

There will be the normal business of our Annual General Meeting before our guest speaker.  The Agenda, Minutes, Annual Report and Financial Statement will be attached to upcoming emails to members.
​
After the AGM we will send Membership Renewal reminders for 2016-17, however memberships may be renewed at the AGM.

The AGM will be followed by a light supper.  .

Peter Maddock
​Secretary