Many regions of the country are now facing one of the worst droughts on record.

Due to climate change we face more variable rainfall and more frequent, severe fires. Our agricultural productivity is under increasing pressure.

But coal and gas mines are still targeting many of our best food growing areas and precious water supplies.

We know that we need renewables NOT gas for a sustainable, healthy future for our communities, our environment AND our economy. 

We can't let our government keep propping up this destructive industry. It’s time we invested our money wisely on safe and sustainable industries, and towards a clean energy future.

Tell the federal government that we want a renewables-led recovery!

As Canterbury Bankstown locals, we are asking Council to take action to protect our climate and help lower energy bills. 

Our council can do this by opposing Origin’s plan to frack for oil and gas in the Northern Territory and by assisting local residents to access savings from switching appliances from gas to electricity.

Canterbury Bankstown Council is a customer of Origin Energy. Origin Energy plans to drill and frack for oil and gas across the NT. New Australia Institute analysis has shown that Northern Territory fracking could be worse for greenhouse emissions than all Australian coal power stations combined. 

Canterbury Bankstown Council “recognises the need to take urgent action to reduce emissions”.  Council passed a ‘Climate Emergency’ motion in August last year which called for the Premier to “step up” and “act with urgency to address the crisis”. Now it’s time for Canterbury Bankstown Council to step up. 

In addition to opposing Origin Energy’s plans to frack the NT, Council needs to assist residents to disconnect from the gas network and access efficient, cheaper and safe technologies like induction cooktops and heat pumps for hot water and home heating and cooling (reverse cycle air conditioners).

Canterbury Bankstown - by population - is the largest Council in NSW, with more than 361,000 residents. What our Council does makes a difference.

Origin Energy are lining up to frack the Northern Territory this year, and in the firing line are some magical places, including recharge zones of Mataranka Hot Springs.

Traditional Owners have told us that Origin Energy has ignored their concerns about fracking and not properly laid out the risks involved.

We need to build a powerful movement of people willing to spread the word and take on Origin at every level, from their head offices to their board rooms.

Make Coal Giants Pay for Mine Clean-Up

Our new report – Abandoned Mines in Queensland: Toxic Time-bomb or Employment Opportunity? – calls for big mining companies to cover the cost of rehabilitating the State’s abandoned mines and estimates that this would generate 6000 jobs in regional Queensland!

There are too many large abandoned mines, and the full cost of cleaning them up is too large and should not fall on taxpayers. If mines are levied to pay for the clean up, they can also create jobs in the process.

Why should we miss out on hundreds of schools and hospitals because we’re footing the bill for the mess left behind by irresponsible mining companies?

References:

• Dodging clean up costs Six tricks coal mining companies play (pdf)

• Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry Report (pdf)
• ACF Mine Rehab Stories
• Abandoned Mines in Queensland Report
• NSW Coal Pit Legacy
• Mine Rehab Closure Cost Report
• Rhetoric Vs Reality. Rehab performance snapshot

Will you join potato farmers in north west New South Wales, foodies in Brisbane, dairy farmers in Gippsland, Traditional Owners in the Gulf, wheat farmers in WA's breadbowl, cattlemen from the Territory, surfers from Sydney and even coal miners from the Hunter Valley in being part of the extraordinary movement to protect Australia's wide brown beauty, rich farmland, ancient culture and unique wildlife from damage by unconventional gas and coal mining?

Whoever you are, there's a place for you. Please join us!

Bishops, wine-makers, livestock producers and conservationists have penned a joint letter to NSW Premier Mike Baird calling on him to protect our common home from a coal mining industry that is out of control.  You can read the full text of the joint letter here

Our common home, our farmland, rivers, villages and bushland are being torn up or ruined for coal mining. How long are coal affected communities expected to wait for the Government to do something to fix up coal mining? 

We've put an ad in Mike Baird's local paper, the Manly Daily, and want all of you to give him a call and add your voice to the push to reform coal mining and save our communities, landscapes and rural industries. Can you call him?