Habitat Australia articles from June 2002

Habitat Australia archives from June 2002

We can't bare it. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... I have just two reactions to the latest Habitat magazine [April 2002]. I find the front cover so revolting that I shall not want to keep this issue. And on page 22, I hoped I had found a solution to my green energy problem, but that is...

Or can we? (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Your recent cover has generated much lounge room talk at our house. Art, reconciliation, population and the load bearing capacity of bridges have all been aired. If we are ever to get the real issues facing our world into a broader audience we...

Green gongs. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Just recently, I was delighted to receive one of only 35 teachers' gongs out of over 3000 nominations for the National Excellence in Teaching Awards from the NEITA Foundation. The exciting point that struck me was that four of the 35 gongs...

Pop culture. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Mike Krockenberger [Habitat, April 2002] and other environmentalists are constantly bashing Australia for being the country with "the highest per capita greenhouse emissions in the developed world", but this sound bite doesn't nearly tell the...

US children worry about our reef. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... This is one of many letters that we received from schoolchildren in Pennsylvania. We have forwarded them to the new Environment Minister. Dear Mr Robert Hill I am writing to you about drilling for oil near the Great Barrier Reef. The...

Smogbusters' funding cut. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Thanks for the article on car dependence and the recent speaking tour by UK sustainable transport advocate Professor John Whitelegg [Habitat, April 2002]. His tour was the third national speaking tour organised by Smogbusters to put...

Casual Victorian council vacancy. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Nominations are invited from members to fill an ACF Council vacancy in Victoria. Each nominee and seconder must be an ACF member. Nominations must be received at ACF's Melbourne office, 340 Gore St, Fitzroy VIC 3065 by close of business Friday...

A garden gathering. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... On the morning of Saturday 20th April, heavy Melbourne skies threatened to saturate the ACF member's Garden Party. Thankfully, the rain held off allowing our supporters to gather at East Ringwood in the glorious bushland garden of members Beryl...

Draft ACF policy statement. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Comments are requested from members and other interested parties on a new Draft ACF Policy--Sport, approved by the 94th meeting of the ACF Council in March 2002. The document is available on ACF's website (www.acfonline.org.au/publications/...

Royal National Park tour. (green Views).
June 1, 2002... Saturday July 6, 2002, between 10am-1pm. NSW members are warmly invited to join ACF Sydney Branch on a tour of Royal National Park to examine the impact of the disastrous new year bushfires. See how bushland and wildlife are recovering. What is...

Membership milestones. (green Views).(Australian Conservation Federation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... ACF wishes to congratulate and sincerely thank the following people who, in the months of April and May 2002, reached the milestones of 25 and 30 years of continuous membership. 30 years Mr A Ambrose, Ringwood East, VIC Mrs G Briggs,...

A word from the executive director. (green Views).(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Here's a fantastic opportunity to help make a real difference. As many of our supporters will know, for a few years now, ACF has been working with an ethical investment firm to research and develop a leading edge "green building". Together,...

The sky's the limit. (Climate Change Campaign).(Australia's greenhouse gas emissions)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are skyrocketing above 1990 levels, according to a recently leaked report from the Australian Greenhouse Office--the federal government agency charged with doing just the opposite. According to the report,...

Precious rock art threatened. (Natural Heritage).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Burrup Peninsula, on the northwest coast of the Pilbara, Western Australia, is an extraordinary area from both an ecological and a cultural heritage point of view. It contains the world's largest and most important collection of...

Where is your super going? (Corporate Responsibility).(superannuation money)(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Would you be concerned if your superannuation money was being invested in companies whose activities had a detrimental impact on the environment and society in general? If the answer to this question is yes, then a recent ACF report into the...

Celebrations in Timor Loro S'ae. (Asia Pacific Campaign).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Preparations for the independence celebrations in Timor Loro S'ae on May 20, 2002, have in some cases been hasty and destructive to the ecologically impoverished country. The nation and its supporters having been planning and enjoying huge...

States of concern and action. (Anti-Nuclear Campaign).(South Australia initiates laws to limit radioactive waste)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... In response to the federal government's continuing moves to expand Australia's nuclear industry, some key states are moving to pass their own anti-nuclear laws. The new South Australian Labor government is keen to send a clear message that...

Broken pipes and broken promises--inquiry into uranium leaks needed. (Anti-Nuclear Campaign).(environmental impact of uranium mines)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The impacts of uranium mining operations in Kakadu have been the subject of extensive media reports in recent times, as the embattled Rio Tinto-owned Energy Resources of Australia continues to have serious leaks and contamination events at its...

Reactor fails the test but passes the licence. (Anti-Nuclear Campaign).(Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency issues license to build a reactor)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Commonwealth nuclear regulator (ARPANSA) has issued a licence that permits the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to begin construction of a second nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in suburban Sydney. The licence...

Environment demoted. (2002 Budget).(Australia's 2002 budget)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... "If we're serious about national security, then we have to tackle environmental security. This year's federal budget is disappointing because it won't turn around the devastating impacts of climate change and salinity," commented Australian...

True food guide. (Genetic Engineering).
June 1, 2002... Do you know how to shop for food that has not been genetically engineered? The recently launched True Food Guide is now here to help you. Produced by Greenpeace and the GeneEthics Network, the guide rates processed food companies and their...

Vic marine parks plan back from the brink. (Marine Campaign).(marine parks in Victoria, Australia)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The effort to establish a group of marine national parks and reserves along Victoria's coast is now squarely back in the spotlight after being stonewalled last year by the the Liberal Opposition. While there have been sacrifices and...

Somerville.
June 1, 2002... NEW KYOTO PROTOCOLS MORNING BREATH 25% reduction by 2006 BEER FLATULENCE 33% reduction by 2009 TEENAGE BOYS' AFTERSHAVE 50% reduction by end of decade OLD VELVETEEN CHAIRS IN SMOKING SECTION OF COUNTRY MOTEL DINING ROOMS 90%...

Oh say, can't he see? Constitution: ask not what your country can do for you Ask, what you can do for your country.(George W. Bush's environmental policy)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The US President took the opportunity of Earth Day to proclaim his commitment to the environment, while others deplored his administration's motives. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS have proclaimed a great victory after the US Senate blocked...

Snow time to waste.(decline in snow cover in Australia)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... The most favourable scenario points to a decline in snow cover of 18 per cent by 2030 and 39 per cent by 2070. AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, conversation about the weather is anything but small talk as skiers and snowboarders try to predict the...

Legacies that live on, and on: ACF is very fortunate to have recently received gifts through the wills of Poppy Harris and Jean (and Tom) Moppett.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
June 1, 2002... Thomas and Jean Moppett Tom Moppett (1912-2000) was one of 50 people who attended the 1964 Canberra conference at which the "Australian Conservation Foundation" was formed. He then became a member of the Provisional Council and remained a...

River talks begin to flow: major steps towards restoring the mighty Murray are made at a meeting on the banks of the river.(Murray River, Australia)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE RECENT MURRAY DARLING Basin Ministerial Council meeting that was held on the banks of the Murray at Corowa in New South Wales, has been hailed as an historic occasion by the media. The track record for cooperation regarding the Murray...

The state of our environment. (Australian Conservation Foundation).
June 1, 2002... Georgia is a typical young Australian. She was born in 1996, the same year the first Australian national "State of the Environment" report was published. Now that she's six, the second of these reports is available. Produced by a group of...

Crude manoeuvres: the Government is slickly sidestepping the question of drilling for oil around our World Heritage-classified Reef.(Great Barrier Reef)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... WHETHER FLYING OVER the vast canvas of sea and coral marked by the stark white and green of the islands, or being immersed in the explosion of colour and life that invades the senses as you enter the warm, tropical waters, the Reef leaves...

Pick of the crop: welcome to the Queensland citrus farm where the wildlife is returning, the profits are rolling in and the employees can't bear to retire.
June 1, 2002... AN OCCASIONAL VOICE can be heard from the block of lemon trees where a score of pickers are systematically harvesting fruit which, within days, will be in capital city shops or on their way overseas. A family of wallabies contentedly grazes on...

Stick in a local. (consuming Choices).(local plants in a garden)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... "My partner and I recently bought a renovated semi in southern Sydney. We love the house as it is but the garden is very European. I haven't cultivated my green fingers yet, but I'm warming to the idea of a completely native garden that can...

The New Nature--Winners and Losers in Wild Australia. (Ideas in Print).
June 1, 2002... By Tim Low Viking RRP $29.95 A refreshing perspective on the "bat saga" at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens is one of many fascinating diversions-in Tim Low's new book. Low maintains that change is the only constant in the natural world...

Njunjul the Sun. (Ideas in Print).
June 1, 2002... By Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Pryor Allen & Unwin RRP $15.95 Njunjul the Sun is the final book in a trilogy designed for young people and adults. With companion volumes My Girragundji and The Binna Binna Man, it charts an Aboriginal...

Native Grasses--An Identification Handbook for Temperate Australia. (Ideas in Print).
June 1, 2002... Meredith Mitchell CSIRO RRP $24.95 This handy little book describes the general appearance and distinguishing features of 17 species of native grasses found in temperate Australia. Complemented by full-colour photos, it provides an...

Young and free: ACF member and world record holder Jesse Martin can't ignore the fact that there is a whole world out there to be explored, and that's just what he and his young crew are doing. (ACF Member Profile).(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Abstract)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... IN OCTOBER 1999, 19-year-old Jesse Martin returned to Melbourne after 328 days at sea aboard a 34-foot yacht. He was the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world. Now he is at it again on a two-year land-and-sea voyage...