Friends of the Earth have welcomed the reappointment of Lily D’Ambrosio as Minister for Energy, Environment, and Climate Change, saying a steady hand will guide policy in Victoria while policy chaos continues at the Federal level.

“The reappointment of Lily D’Ambrosio as the minister for climate change and energy is good news for efforts to tackle climate change,” said Leigh Ewbank, FoE climate change spokesperson.

“With climate and energy policy chaos continuing at the Federal level under the Coalition, a steady hand is needed in Victoria to rein in emissions and help Australia meet its international commitments."

Election day is finally nigh, and it's time for a final coordinator update from Leigh, wrapping up the campaign so far. But before that, we have on-the-street interviews with Sam Hibbins, Greens MP for Prahran, and the Labor and AJP candidates for Prahran.

Please note, the opinions of Mark and Climactic are not representative of Act on Climate or Friends of the Earth. In conversation with a Liberal supporter, Mark expressed a willingness to have the argument about nuclear power. This is not representative of the opinion of FoE, and he does not speak as a representative for the group. 

Friends of the Earth and the local Ararat Greenhouse Action Group have criticised Liberal MP for Ripon Louise Staley's contradictory position on climate change. 

When Ms Staley was asked about whether she accepts climate change science and her party's policy at the Victorian Farmers Federation's candidates forum in late October, Ms Staley stated: 

"Yes I do" accept the science of climate change before adding, "I do not support a Victorian renewable energy target. We will abolish that if we come into government."

Friends of the Earth's climate change spokesperson Leigh Ewbank said Louise Staley's acceptance of climate science was welcome, yet said she must be judged on her track record and Liberal party's platform.

"Saying you accept the science of climate change is one thing, yet the true test of Louise Staley's commitment is her voting record and party's platform," said Leigh Ewbank.

"If Louise Staley shared the community's concern about climate impacts then she wouldn't have voted against strengthening Victoria's Climate Change Act and certainly wouldn't scrap the Victorian Renewable Energy Target."

"People are sick and tired of politicians saying one thing and doing another on big issues like climate change."

Our latest podcast is out now, teeing up the last week before the election, and AoC's week of action. 

Check out the show here

"This week we get a lot more of the collective members voices in the show, as we all pitch in to discuss how the Head in the Sand action went. As this episode goes up, AoC is about to embark on a week full of actions across Victoria, and you can get involved! Check out the links to get in touch and stay in the loop."

Matthew Guy and the Victorian Coalition announced their intention to build a new ‘baseload’ 500 MW power station if elected at the November state election.

Friends of the Earth say the Liberal party's decision to release an energy policy open to new gas and coal power fails the climate change test when renewable energy is the best option to cut emissions and deliver cheaper power for Victorians.

“We are pleased that the Coalition has finally released its full energy policy. But they have let the Victorian people down by proposing a policy which could have come from the 1950s,” said Cam Walker of Friends of the Earth.

“The energy of the future is renewable. It is extraordinary that the Coalition still intends to overturn the VRET – the state renewable energy target which is driving the uptake of renewables while creating thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment.

On Saturday 10 November, around 100 community members have formed a human sign in the shape of the Liberal Party logo on St Kilda Beach to mock Matthew Guy and the opposition’s head-in-the-sand approach to climate change by doing just that: putting their heads in the sand.

Community members concerned about climate change are deeply frustrated that the opposition has failed to deliver a climate policy, with Victoria less then two weeks away from a state election.

"Despite having had four years to come up with a comprehensive policy, Matthew Guy and the Liberal opposition have no plan to rein in emissions and protect Victorian communities from climate impacts if elected on November 24," said Act on Climate spokesperson Anna Langford.

With less than a fortnight till the State Election, this episode we're back in Friends of the Earth Collingwood, planning the Head in the Sand action, but also getting a great history of Act on Climate, and why we do actions. This a great on-ramp for new listeners to the miniseries, after Kate's interview last week. Enjoy!

Listen and subscribe here

This week, we don't have the usual recording of the collective meeting. Because last week that meeting was on-site down in St Kilda before the Albert Park candidates forum, we decided to bring you an interview with Act in Climate's own Kate Wattchow instead.

With less than a month to go before the election, a lot of work ahead and also a lot of effort already behind us, we wanted to take a moment to shine a light on what drives at least one member of AoC to do all that work. This is a great chat with Kate, and we hope you enjoy it. 

You can listen and subscribe here.

Community members are getting organised and making sure political candidates are engaging with the challenge of climate change in the lead up to the Victorian state election. Melissa Abel, a community climate champion from Bendigo, reports on a recent candidates forum in her region:   

In the lead up to the state election at the end of next month, our Australian Conservation Foundation community group in Bendigo have been running a series of “Politics in the Pub” events with our local politicians and candidates, focusing on one party at a time. Bendigo is covered by two state electorates – Bendigo East and Bendigo West, and so we've at times had candidates from both. So far we've had Labor, the Greens and the Liberals.

We are yet to lock in a date with the Nationals, but they – perhaps surprisingly, given the topic of climate change – appear keen so far. As a side note, I asked our Nationals candidate at a different forum why they want to scrap Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) and was told that they don't want to see a “piecemeal, state-by-state” approach to energy policy. Call me cycnical, but to me that looks like an attempt to tear down the states that are actually attempting to do something about climate change...

With a few new people joining the campaign, Leigh takes the chance to give an overview of the goals of the campaign. Great short listen this week.

Listen here