Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

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Folklore suggests the existence of a FoE group in Brisbane in the late 70s, however there is little information available on their work. It was re-formed in the early 1980s and campaigned for land rights and against repressive state legislation brought in by the Bjelke Peterson government. After this group also wound down, a couple of Brisbane activists campaigning in the early 1990s to stop logging on Fraser Island started a FoE group after a falling out with the established environment groups in Brisbane. A FoE Maryborough group (Maryborough is located close to Fraser Island) began at the same time and while this group did much of the physical blockading on the Island, the Brisbane crew raised funds, awareness and recruited blockaders to keep this successful campaign going. Following the cessation of the blockades, Brisbane FoE campaigned on several issues, but the group faded over the next few years. FoE Brisbane (FoEB) re-formed in 1996, after a core group of activists involved in the campaign to stop sandmining on North Stradbroke Island decided they wanted a long term organisational base for their work. It is now a signifi cant organisation within the environment movement in that city. John Hepburn, Ann Ferguson, Rowena Shakes and Andy Morison played a key role in establishing the group. In recent times, it has campaigned against genetic engineering, food irradiation, on nuclear and indigenous issues and had a Sustainable Societies collective. FoEB initiated Reverse Garbage, a cooperative that collects and sells industrial discards that would otherwise go to landfi ll and has recently opened ‘the Bicycle Revolution’, a shop front that fi nds, fi xes and sells old bicycles. FoEB also runs Papernet, a paper provision network that provides 100% post consumer waste recycled paper at low cost to businesses, groups and individuals. Reverse Garbage has since celebrated its fi fth year of operation and has become a signifi cant example of social enterprise, while also providing fi nancial support to FoE Brisbane. FoE Brisbane currently hosts the national climate justice campaign and the national environmental fi lm festival, Wildspaces. FoE 30 Years 102
In 1996, Consolidated Rutile Ltd gained approval to open a new sand mine on North Stradbroke Island. The minepath of “Ibis Alpha” would pass nearby to Ibis and Blacksnake lagoons, threatening the fragile ecology and hydrology of these perched lakes. There was stong opposition to the mine from many of the local traditional owners, as well as from the wider community. Over the next 18 months, there was a fierce campaign of community resistance to the mine, culminating in a blockade of the minesite that lasted for 7 days, followed by a 6 week long protest camp near the entrance to the mine. In the end, the mine went ahead, albeit with some tighter restrictions that would help to mitigate some of the worst environmental impacts. After the campaign ended, some of the organisers decided that they wanted to try to build a grassroots campaigning organisation – so that next time a development like the new sandmine was being proposed, there would be some better infrastructure with which to build an effective campaign. A few years earlier, some of the group had looked into starting a local group of Friends of the Earth due in part to the long standing inspiration of FoE Melbourne as a grassroots campaigning organisation. So the group formed into Friends of the Earth Brisbane, and formally joined the Friends of the Earth Australia network. One of the first questions was funding. How can grassroots organisations fund themselves without compromising their independence FoE Australia had recently been cut from the federal GVCO (Grants for Voluntary Conservation Organisations) program due to their outspoken opposition to the privatisation of Telstra, so Government funding seemed fraught with compromises. Corporate funding was also ruled out for similar reasons. One member of the group had been researching community recycling centres around the country, and, along with several new members ................................................................................................................................................................................................... John Hepburn who were interested in recycling, set about the establishment of Reverse Garbage co-op. The idea for Reverse Garbage came from the Sydney based organisation of the same name. It is basically a re-use centre, where useful discards from industry are collected, sorted and displayed in a warehouse – to be made available for sale to the general public. After 12 months of planning and research, Reverse Garbage Co-operative was established as a non-profit, worker managed co-op, with the overall objective of generating funds to support the campaign activities of Friends of the Earth Brisbane. A few months later, in March 1999, Reverse Garbage opened its doors to the public from a warehouse on Montague Road, West End, with the FoE office located in the house next door. That year, Reverse Garbage won a local award for the “New Small Business of the Year”. It is now 5 years old, employs 5 people, turns over approximately $250,000 per year and diverts around 100 tonnes of material from landfill each year. It has also helped in the establishment of ‘The Bicycle Revolution’, a bicycle recycling co-op that operates from the old garage of the FoE house. The Bicycle Revolution also won an award for “New Small Business of the Year” in 2000. It now employs 2 full time bike mechanics and keeps hundreds of old bicycles on the road each year. Friends of the Earth Brisbane, Reverse Garbage and The Bicycle Revolution are a practical expression of a FoE’s vision for environmental sustainability. They are a showcase of the creative re-use of wasted resources and have been an inspiration to many of the tens of thousands of Brisbane residents who visit each year. As well as the creation of sustainable, local alternatives, FoE continues to engage in public outreach campaigns on issues as diverse as sustainable agriculture, food irradiation and climate justice. FoE 30 Years 103
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Up to a few decades ago, many peopl
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It seemed like a simple idea: to pr
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The optimism, courage and creativit
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Over thirty years, FoE has develope
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decades. In Australia, FoE is commi
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This group acted as an inspiration
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In the 1970s, a handful of key issu
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Apart from working on the direct im
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In the mid ‘70s I was studying en
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In 1976, there was a strong campaig
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egan to jostle for access to Antarc
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Keith Suter The future is never as
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I first became aware of FoE via Pet
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I remember the attempts of the nucl
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I grew up with the threat of global
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In late 1980 a couple of people who
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In the 1980s, there was a shift to
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The Australian Mining Journal noted
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sense that these issues formed a pa
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was (and remains to this day) the o
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Ila Marks Dave Sweeney talking at t
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from a community radio background,
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FoE 30 Years 45
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In the early 1990s, the nuclear ind
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With the Gulf War and the Dili mass
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Page 62 and 63: Action outside the state government
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Page 68 and 69: The first meeting of the Dharnya Al
Page 72 and 73: From 1985 until 1992, undercover of
Page 74 and 75: Kathleen McCann In 1996 I was in Ja
Page 76 and 77: FoE 30 Years 70
Page 78 and 79: Dave Sweeney From its earliest days
Page 80 and 81: March at the Jabiluka mine site, NT
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Page 92 and 93: When it was announced that Melbourn
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Page 98 and 99: Steph Long, Kim Stewart Friends of
Page 100 and 101: Australia has been largely obliviou
Page 102: Fossil fuels have not bought wealth
Page 105 and 106: Roman Orzanski Possibly the first F
Page 107: Everyone helped make the procession
Page 111 and 112: Melia Bugeja, FoE Melbourne Food Co
Page 113 and 114: genetic engineering and techno-indu
Page 115 and 116: East Gippsland (CROEG) to launch th
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Page 119 and 120: 1994. VicRoads was planning to wide
Page 121 and 122: Lee Tan “Let’s chuck in some co
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Page 125 and 126: Herald Sun Columnist, Andrew Bolt P
Page 127 and 128: change. Mark Carter, co-founder of
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Page 131 and 132: Their final edition, in the year th
Page 134 and 135: FoEA is a federation rather than an
Page 136 and 137: input to national decision making f
Page 138: are independent. A secretariat base
Page 141 and 142: lead to some form of wisdom: a know
Page 149 and 150: Anon (1987); Know your FoE; the Coe
Page 151 and 152: Page 5 • ‘U Mines’ - Through
Page 153 and 154: 1990s Page 46 • Image from Chain
Page 155 and 156: • The march that followed the ‘
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Page 116 • FoE ran a food stall a
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Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

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