Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

This critical approach was not appreciated
by all green groups, but over the years
these same groups came to support FoE’s
position, resulting in a more sophisticated
and holistic position on timber production
being adopted by much of the movement.
FoE also started to raise awareness of the
threats posed by Copper Chrome Arsenate
(CCA), the most common treatment for
preserving softwood timber. After several
years this started to yield results as the
issue was finally taken seriously by other
green groups, the broader community and
relevant authorities. In 2003, the Australian
Pesticides and Veterinary Medical
Authority announced that it intended to
place a ban on the use of CCA in certain
domestic situations because of heath risks.
In August 1991, the bulk chemical
facility at Coode Island in inner western
Melbourne suffered a major fire and a
toxic cloud descended over much of the
city. An inquiry was held into the possible
relocation of the facility to Point Lillias,
a headland on Port Phillip Bay near
Geelong. The situation was complicated
by plans to locate a naval arms complex
on the same headland, the East Coast
Armaments Complex. FoEM worked with
a range of other groups throughout the
parallel state and federal inquiries into
the re-location of these facilities under
the banner of the Combined Environment
Groups. FoEM argued that any decision
on the Coode facility should occur within
In 1992, FoE Fitzroy launched its forest
campaign.
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FoE maintained a regular picket outside the state government
department responsible for logging (DNRE).
a context that sought to achieve an
overall reduction in the use of hazardous
chemicals. In the end, neither facility was
moved to Point Lillias. The Coode Island
facility remains a danger to residents
in the inner west suburbs of Melbourne
and FoEM continues to work to highlight
the costs and impacts of our chemical
dependence.
Clare Henderson and Larry O’Loughlan
were prominent national advocates of
Right To Know (RTK) legislation in the
early 1990s. RTK refers to the right of
people to access information on the
existence, quantities and effects of
emissions from industrial activities. The
call for RTK legislation was occurring
against a backdrop of voluntary programs
such as the ‘responsible care’ program
initiated by the Australian Chemical
Industry Council and was based on the
correct assumption that large companies
could not be trusted to manage their
operations through voluntary disclosure
programs.
FoEM began working on forest issues in
1992, when the East Gippsland Forest
Network (EGFN) merged with FoEM. The
EGFN had itself grown from Melbourne
Rainforest Action Group in the late 1980s.
The creation of the FoEM Forest Network
and the energy of a new generation of
activists resulted in more than five years of
intense campaigning to protect Victoria’s
forests. Over the summer of 1993-94,
FoEM joined the Wilderness Society and
Concerned Residents of East Gippsland to
form the East Gippsland Forest Alliance.
FoE 30 Years 55