Earth Matters

What if the government stopped you from sharing videos of police violence? Or spied on your private communications? And did it in the name of keeping you safe?  These are some of the possible outcomes of the Federal government’s proposed Online Safety Bill. The Bill would give broad and unchecked powers to the Australian eSafety Commissioner to censor the internet and further extend the government...

Interview with Aric McBay about Full Spectrum Resistance (part 2)Part two of a two part interview with farmer, anarchist, organiser and author Aric McBay, on his book Full Spectrum Resistance—an historical overview on building movements, actions and strategies for change. In a fascinating and in depth interview with Bursts from The Final Straw Radio, McBay covers the climate justice movement and i...

Interview with Aric McBay about Full Spectrum Resistance (part 1)Part one of a two part interview with farmer, anarchist, organiser and author Aric McBay, on his book Full Spectrum Resistance—an historical overview on building movements, actions and strategies for change. In a fascinating and in depth interview with Bursts from The Final Straw Radio, McBay covers the climate justice movement and i...

Vaccine Apartheid: People before Profit90% of people in the global south won't be vaccinated for up to several years due to corporate profiteering. Millions are predicted to die—while the risk of the spread of mutations increases for all of us—just so that Big Pharma can make a Big Profit. This episode features various speakers from the global People’s Vaccine Alliance at an online rally earlier t...

Koalas are in crisis.  To save Koalas we must come together. Long time campaigner Sue Arnold says:  "We need a national protest over what's happening to our koalas."Koala scientist Kara Youngentaub talks about the science behind the importance of saving habitat that is correctly assessed as the right habitat for Koalas. Music: Song for the Koala by Dave Norman Envirofolk | Dave Norman (bandcamp.co...

Save Westernport From AGL Westernport Bay is an internationally significant wetland, home to a great diversity of marine life and endangered birds. But AGL plans to build a gas terminal in the heart of the bay.  Today on Earth Matters we speak to the President of Save Westernport and a nature conservation campaigner from the Victorian National Parks Associate about the community campaign that has...

Every year, approximately almost 5,000 people die in Australia as a result of exposure to toxic air pollution. Environmental Justice Australia has released two new reports: The People’s Clean Air Action Plans for Victoria and New South Wales. Calling on State governments to immediately act on the worst sources of toxic air pollution. Namely, coal-fired power stations, vehicle emissions and wood he...

The Last Forests: It's blockade time again folks! Chris Schuringa from Goongerah Environment Centre speaks with Nicky Stott about how concerned community members & activists up in the Errinundra Plateau have been putting themselves on the frontline to protect some of the last unburnt forest of East Gippsland from being logged. Juliet Fox speaks with staunch tree-sitter Issaac Carne just before he...

Is Lake Torrens the next Juukan Gorge? Lake Torrens in South Australia is a sacred site and place of deep cultural significance to Kokatha, Adnyamathanha, Kuyani and Barngarla peoples. However government approval has been granted to exploratory drilling company Kelaray (a subsidiary of Argonaut Resources) to begin drilling at this vulnerable site. This week on Earth Matters guest producer Joy Loth...

A  well organised, new project bringing beautifully designed, inexpensive ​Climate Action Now Signs to the people promises to help wake Australia up to the need for urgent climate action now. This project came out of the disastrous fires of Black Summer 2019 on the NSW South Coast. As the fires raged Jed Johnson noticed people were putting up homemade Climate Action Now signs on farm gates....but...

Invasion Day Naarm 2021: Dawn service & rally highlightsHighlights from the Invasion Day dawn service and rally in Naarm (melbourne) this week including ceremony, speeches, music and the honour call to the countless victims of Victorian massacres during the Frontier Wars. Earth Matters #1281 was produced by Nicky Stott

There’s so many things we had to stop and put on hold when COVID hit. But one thing that didn’t stop was the relentless resource extraction of mining and forestry.    On today’s show we hear about two campaigns that are challenging governments who have been trying to use COVID as a cover for destruction.    First up we hear from Yuyun Harmono, Climate Justice Campaign Manager at the Indonesian env...

False Promises & Real Solutions: Part 2Part two of a two part series with long time anti-geoengineering watch orgs—ETC Group & Friends of the Earth crew fighting against geoengineering and "net zero" greenwashing by global north governments, big fossil fuel industries and their neo-liberal allies. In this episode Dipti Bhatnagar argues that big picture climate crisis is not just a technical proble...

We must start cooling the planet. Walter Jehne and Cindy Eiritz explain how to restore the Earth s hydrological cooling system AND restore the “soil carbon sponge” offering resilience to global heating. The Soil Carbon Sponge is porous, well-aggregated soil rich in plant roots, diverse life forms, nutrient availability, air, and often holding lots of water. Building up the Soil Carbon Sponge draws...

Sydney's newest suburbs are too hot to live inTemperatures in western Sydney, home to 2.3 million of Sydney’s poorest residents, are already peaking at unliveable highs. Bureau of Meteorology weather stations in Sydney’s west have recorded 10 of the hottest ever years in the last 15 years, but urban heat researcher Sebastian Pfautsch says poor design means temperatures in built-up areas are up to...

 When Polly Cutmore   heard that Minister Susan Ley had approved the 850  gas fracking wells in the Pilliga  she  immediately  took a detour to   Canberra to rally  against the announcement. She talks of her peoples battle to survive  recent persistent  heatwave  temperatures in Nth Western NSW around her  hometown of Moree. We chat about  the importance of allies  giving financial and other  supp...

The practice of diverting floodwaters into private storages is being legislated in the NSW northern Murray-Darling. What will this mean for environment and communities that depend on it. We speak with Charlee-Sue Frail Ngemba Woman and advisor to the Dharriwaa Elders Group in Walgatt and hear excerpts from a presentation by water consultants Slattery & JohnsonHave your say on Floodplain harvesting...

The ground is cracking and subsiding, water is vanishing, wetlands are being drained, and habitats are destroyed.    Why?    Because successive New South Wales governments have allowed mining in Sydney’s water catchment, and now two of those mines are set to be expanded.    But the community is fighting back.    This week we speak with Kaye Osborn from the Protect Our Water Alliance about coal min...

False Promises & Real Solutions: Part 1We've all heard the extremely disturbing hype about geoengineering as a so-called solution for climate change—but how much do we really know about it? Where did it come from? Who started it—and why? Why does it totally suck? Why is it sooo sinister? And what can we do about it? What are the genuine and viable alternatives that will actually fix up our climate...

A young ecologist, Mark McVeigh, took his super fund REST to court over its failure to consider the risk of climate change to his investments. Today on Earth Matters we hear about this historic legal win through the courts and how its changing your superannuation fund for the better. Guests: David Barnden, Equity Generation LawyersMark McVeigh, 25 year old ecologist who challenged his super fund i...

Follow the Money: federal budget recapIn the federal budget announced last month, A$52.9 million was allocated to expanding Australia’s gas industry, and an extra A$8.7 million was slipped to NSW’s Vales Point power station. The announcements have added new urgency to community efforts to protect the Beetaloo Basin from fracking in the NT and are meeting with resistance from renewable energy advoc...

What detoxes CO2 out of the air, regenerates the soil, needs little pesticide or water and helps prevent deforestation? Hemp is a strain of Cannabis Sativa that contains only a trace of the psychoactive THC. Numerous products come from hemp including paper, cloth, medicines, food, building materials and animal feed. Yet in Australia we grown little hemp and import these hemp products. Regeneration...

Indigenous Environment Network: Soil not OilThe Indigenous Environmental Network presents at the Soil not Oil conference 2020 on Indigenous traditional farming, loss of biodiversity and disease, and changing paradigms away from a fossil fuel economy. Moderator: Tom Goldtooth (Dine'-Dakota & Indigenous Environment Network Director)Guests:Ed Mendoza (Xikano-Nahuatl Indigenous market farmer/permacult...

Against Eco-fascism: an environmentalism without nature [encore]    We often think of environmental politics as inherently progressive and humane.  But from more mainstream far right parties with a presence in national parliaments to marginal but equally dangerous lone actors and dispersed groups organising on the internet, environmental questions are growing in importance  and are becoming centra...

The Martuwarra or Fitzroy River in the Kimberely, WA, is one of the last pristine rivers on Earth, but farming magnates are seeking to open up this unique ecosystem to irrigation and undermine decades of community action to protect this river system.  Guests: Dr Anne Poelina, Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner and Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River CouncilMartin Pritchard, Director of Environs Ki...