Earth Matters

Felling of Mt Macedon snow gums leaves conservationists aghast This week Earth Matters travels to a mountain peak in Central Victoria where the State government has destroyed almost a hectare of fragile snow gums. Nature lovers and conservation advocates are devastated and confused. The snow gums were part of a montane woodland that had regenerated over the course of forty-years since the catastro...

The Belém Gender Action Plan is a nine-year framework, representing a historic step forward in embedding gender equality into climate action. ensuring inclusive, intersectional, and gender-responsive policies and practices. It emphasizes that climate change impacts are not gender-neutral, recognizing that women and girls—particularly those from rural, Indigenous, migrant, or marginalized communiti...

Mia interviews Te Raukura O’Connell Rapira and Laniyuk, two staunch and inspiring warriors in the defence of Larrakia country. Larrakia country is Laniyuk’s country, and together with Te Raukura and an ever-expanding network of fellow protectors she has been fighting a military housing development on her land. Laniyuk is a Larrakia, Kungarakan, Gurindji and French creative and organiser. In Januar...

Continuing our popular online Women's Climate Congress conversation series, this event featured  Jennifer Nadel FRSA, Co-Founder and CEO, Compassion in Politics (UK).In the last federal election campaign, Anthony Albanese referred to kindness in government, saying that kindness is not a weakness but a strength. This mirrors Action 6 of the WCC Charter for Change: 'Elevate compassion and kindness i...

Exploring Extreme Heat: Part One Hot histories - can heatwaves of the past teach us how to adapt to extreme heat? Earth Matters is embarking on a multi-episode series exploring what intense heat events mean for Australians.  We’ll be hearing from settler Australians, migrant communities and First Nations people living in different parts of so-called Australia to understand how heat affects us, and...

In this edition of Earth Matters, host Keiran Stewart-Assheton interviews Matt from the pirate nursery Basalt Buddies, discussing the Victorian Grassland Plains, local conservation efforts, the limitations and unseen issues within government conservation policies, and how people can get involved in conservation efforts in their local area.

As with all other areas of Direct Activism for social and environmental justice, some of the most staunch, courageous and passionate forest defenders are women. At the Lutruwita Forest Resistance Tour last month Hannah and Rosie were fortunate to meet and work alongside many of them, who ranged from teenagers to 80 year-olds. They spoke to two of these incredible women - Jenny Weber (Bob Brown Fou...

Mia speaks with two poets about their recent books, both of which chronicle relationship-building with the more-than-human world. Eungedup is a work of poetry and narrative non-fiction recounting Giles Watson's relationship with a freshwater wetland during a long, dry summer. Vampire Squid is a close and personal account of the deep sea and the people who study it, written throughout Dr Prema Aras...

A jubilant senior cultural custodian, Adrian Burragubba makes the first announcement of a landmark decision handed down in the Queensland Court of Appeal, restoring the case to protect the sacred Doongmabulla springs from Adani’s Carmichael coal mine. Adrian's son Guridyula describes the reoccupation of his traditional land on the mine site at Waddananggu. Then an introduction to The South Coast A...

Helena Norberg-Hodge is a pioneer of the new economy movement, a filmmaker, author and founding director of Local Futures, which is committed to the revitalisation of cultural and biological diversity and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide. Helena has just turned 80 years old. Helena argues for a radical shift from destructive global capitalism and unchecked technologic...

Mia chats with the folks behind A Climate for Art and Creative Climate, initiatives driving climate conversations and action in the arts and cultural sector. Eliki Reade is an Interdependent Producer and artist of kailoma-Fijian (Fijian/European) heritage. They are a co-instigator of A Climate for Art (ACFA), a collective of artists, arts workers and organisations intent on mobilising their sector...

Earth Matters brings you Voices from "Rising Tide" protest blocking coal ships in Moolobinba/Newcastle, highlighting youth climate anxiety, calls for government accountability, and the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and Indigenous justice issues in Australia. We will hear from:Grace Goldman from Youth Rising expressed deep fear for her future and her hometown, Newcastle, due to gover...

This Invasion Day, Earth Matters confronts the truth behind January 26 — not as a celebration, but as the beginning of invasion and ecological destruction. From colonisation as an environmental catastrophe to the climate crisis as a colonial crisis, this special episode centres First Nations sovereignty, Land Back, and the reality that there is no environmental justice without decolonisation. Beca...

‘Aboriginal people in Western Australia experience the highest rates of death from mesothelioma globally. That’s because of Wittenoom. And there isn’t a Banjima family who isn’t touched by this. This is really a huge human rights issue.’‘We went pretty deep into where the main tailings dumps are. We have this drone shot that goes for five minutes…It shows the tailings dumps going for like hundreds...

The climate crisis is a crisis of imagination; we are stuck in a web of stories about what’s possible. But voices outside the web are picking at the knots, opening other ways of being through different, older stories. This is the work of artists. And while you may not know it from how your tax dollars are spent, artists are a lifeline for our world in crisis.  Enter A Climate for Art (ACFA): a col...

Benny Zable and Tarneen Onus Browne have filed a legal challenge in the Federal Court against Victoria Police's decision to declare Melbourne's CBD and surrounding suburbs a "designated area" for six months, enabling officers to conduct warrantless pat-down searches across the entire CBD, and making it an offence to refuse a search. Links:Benny Zable webpageProtester statue proposed for Byron Bay....

In this episode, host Keiran Stewart-Assheton looks at the propaganda we are sold around ethical consumption, particularly in the form of "green" energy, electric cars and carbon offsets. He asks Who really pays for this? Are we sacrificing lives for lifestyle? Can individual lifestyle choices truly make an impact?

John Seed explains how modern economics functions as a powerful, unrecognised religion, driving environmental destruction and social inequality, and that unmasking it is crucial for planetary survival. John is the co-founder of the Rainforest Information Centre and, for over forty years, has facilitated hundreds of transformative experiential Deep Ecology, also known as the work that reconnects. F...

Six weeks ago, billionaire businessman Clive Palmer lost a $300 billion case against the Australian government when the High Court determined that he is not, in fact, a Singaporean investor. It may sound absurd, but Palmer’s case had potential – and he has three more similar cases in the works. Across the globe, fossil fuel companies are taking up a secret weapon against climate action: it’s baked...

What would you guess is the largest environmental threat to our iconic deserts? Feral animals? Contaminated or depleted water tables? Desertification? Actually, it’s a grass. Since its introduction in the 1960s and 70s, and particularly in the last couple of decades, buffel grass has spread like wildfire through central so-called Australia. It’s wreaking havoc on fragile arid ecosystems, and ranks...

Angelica Mantikas from Market Forces details the environmental, social, and financial risks associated with APA Group's proposed pipelines in Australia's Northern Territory, which would enable extensive gas fracking in the Beetaloo Basin. Angelica explains Market Forces' strategies to oppose APAs' plans. Angelica is a first-generation Greek-Australian hailing from the island of Chios, Greece. She...

In this episode of Earth Matters, host Keiran talks about the rocket testing being undertaken by Southern Launch, discussing its impacts on the local environment, Aboriginal community and Aboriginal culture; the dangers it is posing to people undertaking cultural duties within the testing range; as well as the campaigns against this testing being undertaken by senior Kokatha Elder and Nobel Peace...

This show is the second of two parts on the tricky and crucial work of speaking with young people about the climate: conversations with two educators on opposite sides of the world.  Jonathan Noble is the Director of the School of Nature and Climate at CERES Community Environment Park, Narrm (melbourne), which every year delivers climate education programs to thousands of learners. His previous wo...

Talking about climate change is hard. And for those of us who work, live or spend time with young people, it can be especially difficult to work out how to balance the harsh realities of present and future impacts; communicate accurately about what can be done; and respond to the feelings that come up for us and for the kids we care about. On this show, Mia brings you interviews with two climate a...

In September, the federal Government made an announcement that sent shockwaves through the community of climate activists and advocates: a 2035 climate target range of 62 to 70 % below 2005 levels. The lead-up to the announcement saw hundreds of groups calling for an ambitious target, many advocating for net-zero. Now they’re left reeling.  Today, I bring you interviews with two leaders in the cli...