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                                                                                 Issue #136
                                                                                August 2019
                                                                                  RRP $5.50

The National Magazine of Friends of the Earth Australia              www.foe.org.au

      NUCLEAR NO SOLUTION TO
       POWER CLIMATE CHANGE
                                          Green New Deal
                                          The Murray-Darling Basin scandal
                                          Community concerns over 5G
                                          Spotlight on Rio Tinto’s Kakadu uranium clean-up
                                          Talisman Sabre war ‘games’
                                          Australia’s environmental scorecard: dreadful
                                          Risky changes to gene technology regulations
Reacti n NUCLEAR POWER - cloudfront.net
Friends of the Earth Australia contacts
                                                     www.foe.org.au | www.facebook.com/FoEAustralia
National Liaison International                                    Local Groups
Officers:        Liaison Officers                                                                    FoE Far North                    Coal & Gas Free Victoria:          Sustainable Cities Campaign:
                                                                  FoE Adelaide
                                                                                                     Queensland                       Ursula Alquier,                    Rachel Lynskey, 0481 288 211
Phil Evans,                      Chloe Aldenhoven (Melb),         c/- CCSA, 111 Franklin St.
                                                                                                                                      ursula.alquier@foe.org.au          rachel.lynskey@foe.org.au
phil.evans@foe.org.au            0432 328 107                     Adelaide SA 5000.                  PO Box 795, Kuranda, Qld, 4881
                                                                                                                                                                         @WeSustainCities
Claire Anderson,                 chloe.aldenhoven@foe.org.au      David Faber,                       John Glue 0477 771 384           Dirt Radio:
0455 958 270,                    Emma Harvey (Melb),              adelaide.office@foe.org.au         email fnq@foe.org.au or          www.3cr.org.au/dirtradio           Transform Waste
claire.anderson@foe.org.au       emma.harvey@foe.org.au           www.adelaide.foe.org.au            jbglue@foe.org.au                Mondays 10:30am and                Anine Cummins,
                                                                                                     www.foefnq.org.au,               Tuesdays 9:30am on 3CR,            anine.cummins@foe.org.au
Robin Taubenfeld ,               Franklin Bruinstroop (Bris),     Bridgetown                         www.facebook.com/                www.facebook.com/DirtRadio
0411 118 737                     0466 319 323                                                                                                                            Yes 2 Renewables:
robin.taubenfeld@foe.org.au      franklin.bruinstroop
                                                                  Greenbushes Friends                FriendsoftheEarthFNQ
                                                                                                                                      Economic Justice Collective:       Pat Simons, 0415 789 961
Anisa Rogers (Melb)              @foe.org.au,                     of the Forest                      FoE Melbourne                    www.melbourne.foe.org.au/          patrick.simons@foe.org.au
anisa.rogers@foe.org.au          Pat Simons (Melb),               PO Box 461,                        PO Box 222, Fitzroy, 3065        economic_justice,                  www.yes2renewables.org
Ed Mortimer (Sydney)             0415 789 961                     Bridgetown, WA, 6255.              Street address – 312 Smith St,   sam.cossargilbert@foe.org.au       @yes2renewables
                                 patrick.simons@foe.org.au        president@bgff.org.au,             Collingwood,
Cam Villani (Melb)                                                                                                                    Energy Justice Victoria:           FoE Perth
                                 Sam Cossar-Gilbert,              www.bgff.org.au,                   (03) 9419 8700,
Zianna Fuad (Melb),                                               Richard Wittenoom                                                   Zianna Fuad,                       perth@foe.org.au,
zianna.fuad@foe.org.au           sam.cossargilbert@foe.org.au                                        1300 852081 (Freecall)           zianna.fuad@foe.org.au
                                                                  0427 611 511                                                                                           twitter.com/FoEPerth
                                 June Norman (Bris),                                                 foe@foe.org.au
David Faber (Adel)                                                                                                                    Kate Wattchow,                     www.facebook.com/
                                 0438 169 414                     FoE Brisbane                       www.melbourne.foe.org.au
0488 079 753                                                                                                                          kate.wattchow@foe.org.au           FriendsofthePEarth/
                                 june.norman@foe.org.au           20 Burke St, Woolloongabba         www.facebook.com/foemelbourne
davefabr@bigpond.net.au                                                                                                               Catherine Hearse,                  Local contact:
                                                                  (above Reverse Garbage Qld).       www.instagram.com/foemelbourne
                                                                                                                                      catherinehearse@gmail.com          Karun Cowper 0420 714 427
Membership                       Financial                        PO Box 8227 Woolloongabba,         Membership and fundraising       www.melbournefoe.org.au/           karun.cowper@foe.org.au
                                 contributions                    Qld, 4102                          coordinator                      energy_justice_victoria,
issues                                                            ph (07) 3171 2255,                                                  www.facebook.com/quitcoalvic,
                                                                                                                                                                         FoE Southwest WA
                                                                                                     Jemila Rushton, 0426 962 506
                                 Tara Stevenson,                  office.brisbane@foe.org.au                                          @JustEnergyVic                     Joan Jenkins (South Bunbury)
Melbourne: (03) 9419 8700,                                                                           jemila.rushton@gmail.com
                                 tara.stevenson@foe.org.au        https://brisbane.foe.org.au                                                                            0428 389 087,
Jemila Rushton, 0426 962 506                                                                         (03) 9419 8700                   Food co-op:
                                 (03) 9419 8700,                                                                                                                         foeswa@gmail.com
jemila.rushton@gmail.com                                          Peace, anti-nuclear and clean Act on Climate:                       food@foe.org.au,
                                 1300 852 081(Freecall)
Other states − see Local                                          energy (PACE) campaign:       Leigh Ewbank, 0406 316 176            (03) 9417 4382                     FoE Sydney
Group contacts.                                                   Robin Taubenfeld, 0411 118 737 leigh.ewbank@foe.org.au,                                                Jason Ray,
                                                                  @PACECollective
                                                                                                                                      Forest Collective:                 sydney@foe.org.au
                                                                                                 www.actonclimate.org.au              forests@foe.org.au,
                                                                  robin.taubenfeld@foe.org.au                                                                            www.foe.org.au/Sydney
                                                                                                     ACE Nuclear Free Collective:     www.melbournefoe.org.au/forests    www.facebook.com/foesydney
                                                                  Pacific & Torres Strait            Jim Green, 0417 318 368                                             twitter.com/FOESydney
                                                                                                                                      River Country Campaign:
                                                                  Islands Solidarity:                jim.green@foe.org.au,            Megan Williams, 0452 366 605
                                                                  Wendy Flannery, 0439 771 692       Jessica Lawson                   megan.williams@foe.org.au
                                                                  wendy.flannery@foe.org.au          ace@foe.org.au                   www.melbournefoe.org.au/
                                                                                                                                      river_country
National campaigns, projects and spokespeople
Anti-Nuclear and Clean           Finance, Divestment & Banks Pesticides & Drinking Water:            Affiliate members
Energy (ACE):                    Julien Vincent,                  Anthony Amis (Melb),
Jim Green (Melb),                contact@marketforces.org.au      ajamis50@gmail.com                 Australian Student               Goongerah Environment Centre       Reverse Garbage
                                                                                                     Environment Network (ASEN)       www.geco.org.au,                   Queensland Co-op Ltd
0417 318 368                     Militarism:                      Renewable Energy:                  info@asen.org.au,                @eastgippyforest                   20 Burke Street,
jim.green@foe.org.au             Robin Taubenfeld, 0411 118 737   Pat Simons, 0415 789 961           www.asen.org.au,                 www.facebook.com/                  Woolloongabba, 4102
Robin Taubenfeld (Bris),         robin.taubenfeld@foe.org.au      patrick.simons@foe.org.au                                           GECOEastGippsland
                                                                                                     www.facebook.com/asen.org.au                                        Ph 3891 9744
0411 118 737                     Sam Castro, 0439 569 289                                                                             geco@geco.org.au,
                                                                  Save the Reef:                     Anisa 0434 623 164,                                                 info@reversegarbageqld.com.au
robin.taubenfeld@foe.org.au      sam.castro@foe.org.au,                                                                               ed.hill@foe.org.au,
                                                                  June Norman (Bris), 0438 169 414   Lily 0432 023 705,                                                  www.reversegarbageqld.com.au
Claire Anderson (Perth),                                                                             Ruby 0472 525 719.               Ed Hill 0414 199 645 or            www.facebook.com/
0455 958 270
                                 Food and Emerging Tech:          junenorman1940@yahoo.com.au
                                 Louise Sales (Tas)                                                                                   (03) 5154 0174                     reversegarbageqld @
claire.anderson@foe.org.au                                        Sustainable Cities                 Community Foods Cairns                                              ReverseGarbageQ
                                 0435 589 579                                                    Patricia Gates and Peter Reay,       Healthy Futures
Nuclear-Free South Australia:    louise.sales@foe.org.au,         & Public Transport:                                                 www.healthyfutures.net.au,
                                                                  Rachel Lynskey, 0481 288 211 ph (07) 4041 5335,                                                        Sustainable Energy Now (WA)
Mara Bonacci,                    www.emergingtech.foe.org.au                                     shop@comfoods.org.au,                admin@healthyfutures.net.au,       PO Box 341, West Perth
0422 229 970                     www.facebook.com/                rachel.lynskey@foe.org.au
                                                                                                 www.comfoods.org.au,                 Harry 0417 418 225,                WA 6872.
mara.bonacci@foe.org.au          FoEEmergingTechProject           @WeSustainCities
                                                                                                 www.facebook.com/                    Kate 0438 347 755                  www.sen.asn.au,
www.foe.org.au/nuclear_free_sa                                    Tipping Point (climate action) communityfoodscairns/                facebook: Healthy Futures          contact@sen.asn.au.
                                 Forests:
Climate Justice:                 Sarah Day, 0474 735 678          www.tippingpoint.org.au,                                                                               Outreach Convenor
                                                                                                 Earthworker Cooperative              The Hub Foundation,
Leigh Ewbank,                    sarah.day@foe.org.au             info@tippingpoint.org.au                                                                               Rob Phillips 0416 065 054.
                                                                                                 Dan Musil, 0432 485 869              Castlemaine                        Outreach Organiser Alastair
0406 316 176                     Ed Hill, 0414 199 645,           Trade & Economic Justice:      contact@earthworker                  http://mash.org.au/about-the-
leigh.ewbank@foe.org.au          ed.hill@foe.org.au               Sam Cossar-Gilbert (Melb)                                                                              Leith 0432 889 831
                                                                                                 cooperative.com.au                   hub-foundation
Cam Walker,                                                       sam.cossargilbert@foe.org.au   www.earthworker                      jo@hubfoundation.org.au,           Tulele Peisa (PNG) −
0419 338 047
                                 Latin America Indigenous
                                                                  Unconventional Gas:            cooperative.com.au                   0455 589 065                       ‘Sailing the waves on our own’
cam.walker@foe.org.au,           communities solidarity:                                         www.facebook.com/
                                 Marisol Salinas,                 Zianna Fuad,                                                        In Our Nature                      www.tulele-peisa.org
Climate and Health:                                               zianna.fuad@foe.org.au         Earthworkercoop                                                         Director: Ursula Rakova,
                                 marisol.salinas@foe.org.au                                                                           Kitobo Colobus Project in Kenya.
Harry Jennens,                                                                                   @Earthworkercoop                                                        rakova.ursula@gmail.com,
                                                                  War and the Environment:                                            Julian Brown,
0417 418 225                     Murray-Darling                                                      GM Free Australia Alliance       julian.brown20@yahoo.com           ph 0011 675 7399 4806
admin@healthyfutures.net.au      Basin Plan:                      Margaret Pestorius,
                                                                  mpestorius@foe.org.au              Alex Mijatovic, 0449 872 327,                                       West Mallee Protection (SA)
                                 Megan Williams, 0452 366 605                                        info@gmfreeaustralia.org.au
                                                                                                                                      Market Forces
Coal and Energy Justice:         megan.williams@foe.org.au        Robin Taubenfeld, 0411 118 737                                      Julien Vincent,                    westmallee@gmail.com
Chloe Aldenhoven, 0432 328 107                                                                       www.gmfreeaustralia.org.au
                                                                  robin.taubenfeld@foe.org.au                                         contact@marketforces.org.au        Wildlife of the Central
chloe.aldenhoven@foe.org.au      Climate Frontlines                                                  Food Irradiation Watch           www.marketforces.org.au,
                                                                  Wet Tropics:                                                                                           Highlands (WOTCH):
Charlie Wood,                    (Pacific & Torres Strait                                            PO Box 5829, West End,           @market_forces,                    Maggie Riddington (Vic)
charlie@tippingpoint.org.au                                       Ingrid Marker (Qld),
                                 Islands Climate Justice)                                            Qld, 4101. @FIWatch              www.facebook.com/                  wotch.inc@gmail.com ,
Moira Williams                                                    cassowarykeystone
                                 Wendy Flannery (Bris),                                              www.foodirradiationwatch.org,    MarketForces                       www.wotch.org.au,
                                                                  conservation@gmail.com
                                 0439 771 692                     0438 688 229                       Robin Taubenfeld 0411 118 737                                       www.facebook.com/VICWOTCH
                                 wendy.flannery@foe.org.au                                           robin.taubenfeld@foe.org.au,
Reacti n NUCLEAR POWER - cloudfront.net
CONTENTS
                                                      Regular Items
                                                      Friends of the Earth Australia Contacts                                    inside front cover
                                                      Join Friends of the Earth                                                                  4
                                                      Friends of the Earth Australia News                                                        5
                                                      Subscribe to Chain Reaction                                                                9

                                                      Green New Deal
Edition #136 − August 2019                            Transforming Victoria: Creating jobs while cutting emissions		                                         10
                                                      The New Deal and the Green New Deal – Katherine Phelps		11
Publisher - Friends of the Earth, Australia
Chain Reaction ABN 81600610421                        A Green New Deal needs to be global, not local – Andrew Taylor and Harpreet Kaur Paul		                14
FoE Australia ABN 18110769501
www.foe.org.au                                        Murray-Darling Basin
youtube.com/user/FriendsOfTheEarthAUS
                                                      Back on Track: A Community Action Plan to restore integrity in the Murray Darling Basin		              16
twitter.com/FoEAustralia
                                                      The Murray-Darling Basin scandal: economists have seen it coming for decades – John Quiggin            17
www.facebook.com/FoEAustralia
                                                      Chennai is the latest city to have almost run out of water and Australia is not immune		               18
flickr.com/photos/foeaustralia

Chain Reaction website                                Nuclear
www.foe.org.au/chain-reaction                         Choosing Humanity: Why Australia should sign the UN nuclear weapon ban treaty		                        20
                                                      Nuclear power and Australia’s culture wars – Jim Green		21
Chain Reaction contact details
PO Box 222,Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065.
                                                      Nuclear Power – No Solution to Climate Change – Friends of the Earth Australia Statement		             22
email:   chainreaction@foe.org.au                     Our environment law is powerless to prevent extinction and this ruling just proved it – Piers Verstegen 26
phone:   (03) 9419 8700
                                                      Unfinished Business: Spotlight grows on Rio Tinto Kakadu uranium clean-up – Dave Sweeney               27
Chain Reaction team                                   BHP Olympic Dam tailings an “extreme risk” to workers and the environment – David Noonan               28
Jim Green, Tessa Sellar, Anna Langford                Welcome to Rockhampton – gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, 		                                         30
                                                      host to Talisman Sabre war ‘games’ – Robin Taubenfeld
Layout & Design
                                                      From Ranger to Fukushima – Alexander Brown		34
Tessa Sellar

Printing                                              Other Articles
Arena Printing and Publishing, Melbourne
                                                      There’s a lot of bad news in the UN Global Environment Outlook, 		                                     37
Printed on recycled paper                             but a sustainable future is still possible – Pedro Fidelman
                                                      Australia’s 2018 environmental scorecard: a dreadful year 		                                           38
Subscriptions
                                                      that demands action – Albert Van Dijk and Shoshana Rapley
Six issues (two years) A$33
Twelve issues (four years) A$60                       Nine reasons to fight for ambitious emissions reduction targets in Victoria – Phillipa Grylls		        39
See subscription ad in this issue of Chain Reaction   Changes to our gene technology regulations will put us all at risk – Louise Sales		41
(or see website and contact details above).
                                                      World hunger is on the rise – Timothy A. Wise		42
Chain Reaction is published three times a year
                                                      Northern Territory drinking water – Anthony Amis		44
ISSN 2208-584X                                        Community concerns over 5G: Needless anxiety or wise precaution? – Don Maisch 		                       46
                                                      Environment reporters and defenders face harassment and murder		                                       48
Copyright:
                                                      Malaysia must not renew Lynas’ licence to generate more toxic radioactive waste 		                     50
Written material in Chain Reaction is free of
copyright unless otherwise indicated or where
material has been reprinted from another source.
Please acknowledge Chain Reaction when reprinting.

The opinions expressed in Chain Reaction are not
necessarily those of the publishers or any Friends
of the Earth group.
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44      Chain
      Chain   Reaction
            Reaction   #128 December
                     #134     November 2016
                                     2018
FOE AUSTRALIA NEWS   Friends of the Earth (FoE)
                     Australia is a federation of
                     independent local groups.
                                                             Friends of the Earth Online
                     You can join FoE by contacting
                     your local group − see the
                                                             www.foe.org.au
                     inside back cover of Chain              youtube.com/user/FriendsOfTheEarthAUS
                     Reaction for contact details
                     or visit foe.org.au/local-groups        twitter.com/FoEAustralia
                     There is a monthly FoE Australia
                     email newsletter − subscribe via        facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Earth-Australia/
                     the website: www.foe.org.au
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                     please visit foe.org.au/donate

                                                        Climate Frontlines                              Government survey shows
                                                        campaign updates                                public support forest protection,
                                                        In 2017, FoE Australia’s Climate Frontlines     not logging
                                                        campaign sponsored Brisbane-based
                                                        Stella Miria-Robinson, originally from          From FoE Australia affiliate Goongerah
                                                        PNG, to join the FoE International team         Environment Centre (GECO):
                                                        at the UN COP23 climate negotiations            Results of a public survey conducted
                                                        in Bonn Germany. Stella has used every          by the Victorian government show
                                                        opportunity since then to highlight one         overwhelming support for protecting
                                                        of the key FoE International’s campaign         native forests from logging and provide
                                                        messages – decent jobs on a living              the Victorian Labor government with a
                                                        planet – most recently at a well-attended       strong platform to protect forests and
                                                        women’s nation building event at a              transition jobs out of the native forest
                                                        mosque in Brisbane.                             logging sector.
                                                        Climate Frontlines is partnering with           The survey was phase one in the
                                                        the University of Queensland Human              Victorian government’s engagement
                                                        Rights Consortium to hold a conference          with the public as part of the Regional
                                                        on Human Rights and Climate Change              Forest Agreement (RFA) modernisation
                                                        on Friday 11 October 2019. The aim of           program. In 2018, rather than extend
                                                        this one-day conference is to increase          the bilateral RFAs for another 20 years
Save the date (November 9)                              understandings of, and effective responses      as has occurred elsewhere, the Victorian
for Walk This Way 2019!                                 to, rights and justice issues emerging in       government instead provided a short-
                                                        a climate-changed world with a focus            term extension in order to review the
Jemila Rushton, fundraising                             on Australian and Pacific Island local          effectiveness of the state’s RFAs.
coordinator with Friends of                             communities and indigenous peoples.
the Earth Melbourne, writes:                                                                            Protecting native forests from logging
                                                        Key themes will include climate change          was identified by 52% of respondents
There is an urgent climate imperative                   and human mobility, resource extractivism       as being the most important way of
to transform our economic and energy                    and resistance, mainstreaming human             improving forests for all Victorians,
systems. Victoria is already in the middle              rights in development, opportunities for        whilst 42% identified protecting and
of a largely unplanned transition – many                climate litigation, and the role of social      restoring biodiversity to the forests
coal-fired power stations are nearing                   movements in advocacy for climate justice.      as the most important action for
the end of their lives and the native                   The conference will be held at the Global       government to take.
forests sector is on the verge of collapse.             Change Institute at the University of
There is no doubt that change is coming                                                                 The online survey was completed by
                                                        Queensland, and will include an evening
to extractive industries. We need to                                                                    2,824 respondents while data was also
                                                        public lecture by Dr Anne Poelina, Nyikina
plan accordingly. Where governments                                                                     collected at 126 events across regional
                                                        Warrwa Traditional Custodian and Chair
have fallen behind, communities are                                                                     Victoria, a Forest Youth Symposium and
                                                        of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council.
taking the lead in preventing climate                                                                   from written submissions.
                                                        For more information contact
change from getting worse and setting                   wendy.flannery@foe.org.au                       The RFAs have comprehensively failed
the agenda for a fair and just energy                                                                   the environment, the logging industry,
                                                        Climate Frontlines collaborated with the
transition for Victoria.                                                                                and the public. The survey results show
                                                        Pacific Islands Council of Queensland
On Saturday November 9, join us on a                                                                    the Victorian people know this and that
                                                        to send Sailoto Liveti as a civil society
sponsored walk through Melbourne’s                                                                      they expect change.
                                                        representative to the 2019 Pacific Islands
evolving urban landscape as we                          Forum meeting in Tuvalu in August. For          The government survey report is
announce our plan for a fair and just                   the first time, there was an opportunity        posted at https://preview.tinyurl.com/
energy transition for Victoria.                         for formal civil society participation in the   forests-feedback
More information online soon                            deliberations. Sailoto was born in Australia    More information: www.geco.org.au/
at www.walkthisway.org.au,                              of Tuvaluan parents, and is studying for a      gov_survey_shows_public_support_
#WalkThisWay                                            Masters in Environmental Management.            forest_protection_not_logging

www.foe.org.au                                                                                             Chain Reaction #136   August 2019   5
Goodbye to a kind and
                                                                                             gentle soul, John Glue
                                                                                             Ingrid Marker, a member of FoE
                                                                                             Far North Queensland, writes
                                                                                             It was in 2015 at the Cairns Esplanade
                                                                                             markets one beautiful Autumn morning
                                                                                             that I met this kind hearted bear of a
                                                                                             man, with his grey shoulder length hair,
                                                                                             beard and contemplative eyes. We sat
                                                                                             on a park bench beside the lagoon and
                                                                                             I shared with this stranger my story of
                                                                                             witnessing an environmental crime.
                                                                                             John was a compassionate listener,
                                                                                             deep thinker and slow in responding
                                                                                             to my urgent pleas for help.
                                                                                             John responded eventually with have you
                                                          Earthworker Cooperative workers
                                                                                             heard of Friends of the Earth, the Cairns
                                                            Ryan Knights, Graeme Donald,
                                                               Dickie Savva, Dan Musil and   and Far North Environment Centre or the
                                                                    Katherine Cunningham.    Environmental Defenders Office. I had
                                                                                             not, so he quietly recommended they
Earthworker Energy in the news and on the move                                               were a good place to start.
                                                                                             I trusted John’s advice, he was that kind
Recent developments around the world          tube and new CO2 heat pump solar hot           of guy. Decent, trustworthy, integral and
are giving many reasons to despair.           water systems incorporating our ‘Made          cared about people and the planet with
But providing hope and vision is at the       in Morwell’ stainless steel tanks! See         a long history of environmentalism.
heart of the work of Friends of the Earth     www.earthworkerenergy.coop                     We were to become good friends as he
affiliate Earthworker, and there are          Earthworker is not a one-trick-pony,           guided the start of what was to become
reasons to be hopeful. The Earthworker        with other cooperatives in the network         a campaign, bumping into him at Rusty’s
Energy Manufacturing Cooperative has          also on the move. The award-winning            markets, he would patiently listen to
begun producing and selling premium           Redgum Cleaning Cooperative (http://           where it was at and steer me in the right
solar hot water products at the Morwell       redgumcleaning.coop) is a member of            direction, not many people take the time
factory in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley! To      the Earthworker Cooperative network,           to listen to people’s stories. John was a
celebrate the milestone, a social day and     and Earthworker is co-founder of               special man.
factory celebration was held on June 30.      Cooperative Power Australia – a new            The last conversation I was to have with
Please spread the word that Earthworker       electricity retailer cooperative               John was like no other I had shared over
Energy solar hot water products are now       (www.cooperativepower.org.au).                 our four-year friendship. There was a
available, including a range of evacuated                                                    desperation in his voice and frustration.
                                                                                             Nothing else matters but the climate crisis,
                                                                                             it is a pending climate catastrophe he said
                                                                                             “we all need to work together on this issue
                                                                                             as nothing else matters everything else is
Sustainable Cities, Victoria                                                                 just fluffy around the edges”.
In late June, locals came together for a                                                     Now John is gone and all I can think
mock opening of Doncaster Rail to call                                                       about is how precious he was. I keep
on the Victorian government to stop                                                          hearing the last message he shared with
the North East Link toll road. It was a                                                      me, how we need to collectively focus
fantastic action with moving speeches         Please support                                 our attention on the climate crisis and
                                                                                             protect the planet that we collectively
from community members calling on the         Djap Wurrung people
government to immediately review their                                                       love, share and depend on, supporting
mega-toll-road thinking of the past decade.   VicRoads is planning on expanding the          us much like John Glue did for me.
The North East Link will jeopardise the       western highway near Ararat. The project       Much love on your next journey John.
potential for a much-needed express rail      threatens ancient trees that are sacred to     John Glue
line from the city to Doncaster. Metro-       Djap Wurrung people who have camped
style train lines are much more efficient     on the site for over one year. The Djap
and sustainable than mega toll roads,         Wurrung embassy has issued a red alert
with the ability to move more than            and they are calling for support.
double the people in the same amount          You can help by coming to the camp,
of time. North East Link will kill off        bring supplies, resources, energy and
future plans for a railroad to Doncaster.     volunteer on the front line. Information
A reservation for Doncaster Rail runs         is posted at www.dwembassy.com/
through the Eastern Freeway, but North        come-to-camp/
East Link will demolish it for car lanes.     Or help the protectors by making a
Please sign the petition at www.              donation: www.gofundme.com/support-
getonboard.org.au/stop_north_east_link        towards-djap-wurrung-embassy

6   Chain Reaction #136   August 2019
Bees and pesticides                           Guardians of the Wet Tropics                 Trouble for Aussie miners
Anthony Amis, FoE Australia                   Ingrid Marker, a member of FoE Far           heats up in Ecuador
pesticides spokesperson, writes:              North Queensland and Cassowary
                                                                                           Australian mining companies Solgold
                                              Keystone Conservation, writes:
There has been a lot of information                                                        and a subsidiary of Gina Rinehart’s
recently about the association                The Wet Tropics World Heritage area          Hancock Prospecting continue to
of pesticides and bee deaths.                 is threatened by invasive pest plants        encounter problems in Ecuador (see
However, there has been very little           and animals. Research demonstrates           ‘Gina and Twiggy’s South American
information about this phenomenon             neighbouring landholders are often to        adventure’ in Chain Reaction #135).
in Australia. There have been some            first people to become aware of issues       Solgold is starting to come under
suggestions that a class of pesticides        including roaming domestic animals,          sustained resistance from local
called neonicotinoids are the major factor    exotic pests, pollution and fire. Engaged,   communities, alarmed that hundreds of
in bee deaths associated with pesticides      empowered and connected communities          thousands of hectares are now under
in Australia. Neonicotinoids are definitely   can provide a valuable first response and    mining concessions owned by Solgold.
a major issue but a search for bees on        alarm system to authorities.
                                                                                           Recent research by Melbourne Rainforest
FoE’s Australian Pesticide Map (www.          Cassowary Keystone Conservation is           Action Group has revealed that many
pesticides.australianmap.net) reveals that    planning a pilot project to change values    of Solgold’s concessions in Ecuador
another pesticide called fipronil has been    necessary for social empowerment and         are located on Indigenous lands and
responsible for more bee deaths than          guardianship of the Little Mulgrave River    protected forests (www.tinyurl.com/
neonicotinoids. In June 2019, fipronil        area and the riparian corridor by Figtree    mrag-ecuador). Residents of Gualel in the
was linked to the deaths of 10 million        Creek, home to rare and threatened           south of the country, who are surrounded
bees near Griffith in New South Wales.        species including cassowary, crayfish        by three Solgold concessions, are
It is an impossible task to try and           and fish. This project is unique and fills   currently planning widespread protests
determine the exact number of bee             a niche by bringing together Traditional     if mining is not stopped.
deaths due to pesticide application           Owners and those landholders on the
                                                                                           Gina Rinehart’s problems have been
in Australia. Part of the problem lies        edges of the Wet Tropics Management
                                                                                           receiving international media attention,
with the secrecy of bee industry and          Authority aspiring to best practices.
                                                                                           after the Ecuadorian government
a reluctance to speak openly about            Activities will involve cooperative          employed 2,000 troops in July to clear
pesticide concerns, costs associated          management activities such as                out her mining concession in the north
with testing if hives are damaged,            restoration of creeks and citizen science    of the country of 10,000 ‘illegal’ miners.
public relations campaigns on behalf of       projects. Options include understanding      The army was apparently sent in by
agribusiness interests, but perhaps a far     the complex nature of pig and feral          President Lenin Moreno after a terse
greater problem is that in Australia there    dog management and the agencies              meeting with Hanrine, the Hancock
are no regulations in place that require      working in this space; mapping of            subsidiary, in April.
biocide information to be reported            cassowary habitat in the Fig Tree Creek
                                                                                           More information:
and there are no government or private        and Mulgrave Valley; looking at other
bodies who have responsibility for            unique and threatened species such as        www.foe.org.au/trouble_ for_aussie_
monitoring biocide application.               crayfish and fish in the creeks and river    miners_heats_up_in_ecuador
More information:                             systems; water quality; localised land       www.sbs.com.au/news/the-
www.foe.org.au/bees_and_pesticides            management plans to reduce identified        ecuadorian-community-taking-on-
                                              threats; and assistance with negotiating     australian-gina-rinehart-s-mining-
                                              regulations and systems.                     company
Global #ClimateStrike –
September 20                                                                               Melbourne students climate strike, 15 March 2019.

The world’s biggest ever climate
mobilisation was led by children.
It’s time adults stepped up and joined
in. Take the day off to demand climate
justice for everyone on September
20. Actions and protests will be
held in dozens of cities and towns
across Australia – for details see
www.schoolstrike4climate.com/sept20
Join us on September 20 – three days
out from the UN’s Emergency Climate
Summit – by taking the day off school,
uni or work to show our politicians that
we’re serious about climate action. The
world isn’t waiting so neither are we.
www.schoolstrike4climate.com/sept20
Global Climate Strike: https://
globalclimatestrike.net
Facebook: Workers for the September
20 Global Climate Strike
#ClimateStrike

www.foe.org.au                                                                                  Chain Reaction #136      August 2019       7
Emissions Reduction                                                                         Transform Waste
Targets – Victoria                                                                          Transform Waste was created as FoE
Leigh Ewbank from FoE Melbourne’s                                                           campaign in response to the ever-
Act on Climate collective writes:                                                           increasing demand on Earth’s finite
                                                                                            resources and a disposable culture
The countdown to climate action
                                                                                            which has led to a global waste crisis.
continues. The Victorian Labor
                                                                                            We believe in the transition to a circular
government has less than eight months
                                                                                            economy and are advocating for a
to set the state’s first interim Emissions
                                             Antibiotic resistant bacteria                  suit of regulatory and policy changes
Reduction Targets. If we can get Premier
Dan Andrews and the Labor government         genes found in GM cattle                       to influence behaviour and promote
                                                                                            investment in infrastructure and
to commit to bold and ambitious targets,
                                             Scientists from the US Food and Drug           technology in order to achieve this.
then we can lock in the rollout of
                                             Administration have discovered that            At present, our major focus is calling for
renewable energy. Momentum is building,
                                             cattle genes edited not to grow horns          the immediate implementation of a 10c
with over 2,200 submissions calling for
                                             unexpectedly contain bacterial DNA.            refund for cans and bottles in Victoria –
the state government to set science-based
                                             These include complete DNA sequences           an action which will result in significant
Emissions Reduction Targets. It’s why
                                             that confer resistance to three different      reduction in litter and pollution as well
we’ve launched a community-led lobbying
                                             antibiotics. The study demonstrates            as increase recycling quality. We have
blitz of state Labor MPs.
                                             how risky the Australian government’s          protested on the steps of Parliament on
The Victorian Parliament’s Environment       current proposal to deregulate a number        multiple occasions in support of this
and Planning Committee will conduct          of these new genetic modification              cause and our actions are being noticed
an inquiry into what communities are         techniques in animals, plants and              – with mounting pressure on the
doing to tackle the climate crisis and       microbes is.                                   Victorian government we are confident
how the government can support them.
                                             Take action: tell Shadow Health Minister       that it will not be long until we will see
We’re keen to seize this opportunity to
                                             Chris Bowen to keep regulating these           a breakthrough!
educate MPs about community action
                                             GM techniques at http://gmfree.org.au          Come along to our meetings 6pm every
and local climate impacts as well as
building the case for bold and ambitious                                                    Wednesday at FoE Melbourne, 312 Smith
solutions such as the Climate Budget.                                                       St, Collingwood.
More information is posted at www.                                                          www.transformwaste.org.au
actonclimate.org.au/parl_inquiry_into_
climate_action

                                             Friends of the Earth report
We know who’s                                uncovers Australian banks
                                             financing palm oil                             A step forward for Vic’s
working with Adani
                                                                                            renewable energy transition
From FoE affiliate Market Forces:            The big four banks have been exposed
                                             in new research by Friends of the Earth        Pat Simons, FoE Melbourne Yes 2
We know who’s working with Adani.
                                             to be financing the palm oil supply            Renewables campaigner, writes:
Engineering firm GHD is leading the
engineering design work for Adani’s          chain. The report finds that all four          FoE Melbourne welcomed the Victorian
disastrous Carmichael coal mine.             banks had a financial relationship with        government’s introduction of legislation
GHD claims to have a “commitment             Wilmar International, whose subsidiary         to increase Victoria’s Renewable Energy
to sustainable development”. Yet it is       in West Sumatra, Indonesia, is accused         Target (VRET) to 50% by 2030. The
working on a project that threatens          of intimidating local inhabitants off their    announcement comes as the Victoria
water supplies, trashes traditional          native land. And this is just the tip of the   government prepares to set economy-
owners’ rights and will fuel ever-           iceberg. The study uncovers 68 reports         wide Emissions Reduction Targets for
worsening heatwaves, bushfires,              of human rights and environmental              the state.
droughts and storms. Please let GHD          violations by the palm oil companies           It is predicted the increased VRET will
know that this is not a project an ethical   that receive funds from Australian             generate thousands of jobs across the
company works on via the online action       banks. From land grabbing to rainforest        state, and secure and additional $5.8
at www.marketforces.org.au/info/key-         destruction, these harmful practises are       billion in investment by 2030. The
issues/theadanilist/ghd/                     systemic in the palm oil business.             Victorian government can build on this
We’ve been in this position before.          The report was covered widely by               announcement by delivering the next
Last year, with people all over Australia    the media and is part of a campaign            round of renewable energy auctions;
taking action, AECOM (another                demanding we hold Australian companies         committing to power Melbourne’s train
international engineering firm) pulled       accountable for their human rights and         network with renewable energy; and
out of their work with Adani. With           environmental impact overseas.                 paving the way for the landmark Star of
enough pressure we can convince GHD          The report – Draw the Line: A Black            the South offshore wind farm proposed
that helping Adani build its climate-        Book about the Shady Investments of            off the coast of Gippsland South.
wrecking mine just isn’t worth the           Australian Banks in Palm Oil – is posted       www.melbournefoe.org.au/vret_50_
damage to its reputation.                    at www.tinyurl.com/palm-oil-report             anotherstep

8   Chain Reaction #136   August 2019
Protest at the
                                                                                         Olympic Dam
                                                                                         uranium mine, 2012.

Anti-nuclear campaign update
There’s a renewed push for nuclear           Traditional Owners from the proposed
power, with no less than three               ‘community ballot’. The complaint
parliamentary inquiries underway –           remains unresolved.
federal, NSW and Victoria. Thankfully        BHP is seeking approvals to expand its
the push is mostly driven by ignorant        Olympic Dam copper and uranium (and
far-right ideologues and they are unlikely   gold and silver) mine in South Australia.
to make much progress. Friends of the        FoE is working with environmental           Federal bully effort on gas an
Earth will put in submissions to the         campaigner David Noonan to hold
three inquiries and we have written a                                                    attempt to hide policy failure
                                             the mining giant to account – and to
briefing paper on nuclear power and          hold state and federal governments to       The federal government has stepped up
climate change as well as a paper on         account given that their preference         its attempt to bully NSW and Victoria
nuclear power’s economic crisis              would be to approve the expansion           into opening up new gas fields. “This
(both posted at nuclear.foe.org.au).         with minimal scrutiny and few if any        is part of a long running campaign by
Submissions to the federal inquiry           conditions. In June, BHP disclosed that     the fossil fuel industry and conservative
close soon (September 16): please put        three radioactive mine waste tailings       MPs, with the support from some
in a submission if you can. Details are      facilities at Olympic Dam are in the        conservative and business media
posted at https://tinyurl.com/omg-           global “extreme risk” hazard category       outlets,” said Friends of the Earth’s
another-nukes-inquiry                        based on the consequences of a potential    Cam Walker in an August 6 statement.
The Barngarla People are Traditional         catastrophic failure. More information:
                                                                                         “These groups continue to push the
Owners for two of the three sites in SA      www.nuclear.foe.org.au/olympic-dam/
                                                                                         argument that the moratorium on
being targeted by the federal government     Traditional Owners, conservationists        onshore gas drilling and ban on fracking
for a national nuclear waste dump. The       and supporters of the campaign against      in Victoria are driving up gas prices for
government planned a ‘community              the proposed Yeelirrie uranium mine in      consumers. However, what we have is
ballot’ which would have excluded            Western Australia were disappointed by      a failure of the market and government
Barngarla Traditional Owners other           the unsuccessful legal challenge against    policy, not a lack of supply. The federal
than those living near the proposed          the mine’s approval. But the fight is not   government has aggressively pursued
dump site. The Barngarla Determination       over! Vicki Abdullah, Traditional Owner     the development of an export LNG
Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) initiated      and Tjiwarl Native Holder said, “We are     industry without putting price safe
a legal challenge on the grounds that the    disappointed, but glad we took this to      guards in place for local consumers.
exclusion of Traditional Owners from         court, to defend our country and expose
                                                                                         “The moratorium was hard fought for
the ballot was a breach of the Racial        the problems with environmental law
                                                                                         by regional and urban communities
Discrimination Act. Sadly, the Federal       in this state. We won’t give up – our
                                                                                         in Victoria. The Coalition would be
Court rejected BDAC’s legal challenge,       country is too important. We will
                                                                                         unwise to provoke these communities
but BDAC has lodged an appeal in the         continue to fight for Yeelirrie and
                                                                                         by attacking these sensible policy
Full Court of the Federal Court.             to change the laws.”
                                                                                         measures. We urge the Victorian
The two proposed dump sites on               The Yeelirrie mine proposal was twice       government to stand firm against this
Barngarla land are both near the farming     rejected by the WA EPA but approved         fear campaign which seeks to overturn
town of Kimba. The other SA site being       by the state Liberal government just        the outcome of an 18-month public
targeted for a national nuclear waste        prior to losing office at the March 2017    inquiry and broad community support
dump is on Adnyamathanha land near           election. Then the federal environment      for the moratorium.”
Hawker in the Flinders Ranges. The           minister Melissa Price approved the
                                                                                         A briefing paper, ‘Busting Victoria’s
Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands              mine the day before the May 2019
                                                                                         Gas Myths’, is posted at www.
Association lodged a complaint with the      federal election was announced –
                                                                                         melbournefoe.org.au/_busting_
Australian Human Rights Commission           without any public notification of the
                                                                                         victoria_s_gas_myths
last year, alleging contractors damaged      approval and despite previously saying
a precious cultural site while assessing     that federal approvals would not be         Background reading on the campaign
land for the proposed nuclear dump,          given before the resolution of the court    that secured the original moratorium
and also protesting the exclusion of         case. More information is posted at         is posted at www.melbournefoe.org.
                                             www.ccwa.org.au/yeelirrie                   au/coal_and_gas

www.foe.org.au                                                                                Chain Reaction #136   August 2019      9
Transforming Victoria:
     Creating jobs while cutting emissions
     A ‘green new deal’ proposal for a Fair and Just           while the people of the Latrobe Valley paid the financial and social costs of
     Transition, from Friends of the Earth Melbourne.          privatisation. There was no state government plan for transition and 7,500
     There is an urgent climate imperative to                  direct jobs were lost.
     transform our economy. The Intergovernmental              We must ensure that the impending next transformations do not re-create
     Panel on Climate Change report (2018) argued              the pain of previous changes.
     that, by 2030, global emissions must drop by 45%          The Australian and Victorian governments should create a Just Transition
     from their 2010 levels if we are to avoid exposing        Authority to plan, oversee and manage the required- and inevitable –
     hundreds of millions of people to serious                 transition to a low carbon economy.
     climate-related hazards. A growing body of
                                                               Friends of the Earth has released the first version of its plan for a ‘Green
     mainstream climate science says that we need to
                                                               New Deal’ style approach which would start the transformation the
     achieve deeper targets earlier if we are to avoid
                                                               Victorian economy. In its initial version, it focuses largely on the energy
     catastrophic climate change.
                                                               sector and urban form and transport. Later versions will cover relationships
     We are already in the middle of a largely                 with traditional owners, broader economic transformation and other
     unplanned transition of our economy, partly due           sectors including agriculture.
     to the forces of economic globalisation and partly
                                                               The Transforming Victoria: creating jobs while cutting emissions report
     through technological changes to the energy
                                                               aims to provide a pathway outlining how the state could place itself on
     system. Because it is unplanned, it is unjust. At
                                                               a sustainable footing, while ensuring affected communities are not left
     the national level, there is already wage stagnation
                                                               behind in the transition to a low carbon future.
     and an industrial relations system which works
     against the interests of workers. Many ageing             Key aspects of the report call for:
     coal-fired power stations are nearing the end of          •C  reating a Just Transition Authority and appointing a Minister for Transition
     their lives and the native forests sector is clearly      • Ensuring good, secure union jobs are created in the transition away from
     unsustainable and on the verge of collapse.                  oil, coal, gas and native forest logging
     The economy is undergoing a market-driven
                                                               • Ensuring sustained investment in the Latrobe Valley, including support
     transformation and many of these changes are
                                                                  for economic diversification, renewable energy and storage, and high-
     bad for blue collar workers, as was shown by the
                                                                  tech manufacturing
     closure of the Australian car industry.
                                                               • Ensuring better energy efficiency standards for new homes and buildings
     Without a fair and just transition plan, the inevitable
                                                                  and continued retrofitting of existing housing stock
     impact of future changes will disproportionately
     fall on workers and communities who are currently         • Helping householders and businesses shift from relying on gas to 100%
     reliant on the stationary energy sector, fossil fuel         renewable energy
     extraction, forestry products, and associated             • Shifting funding away from mega road projects like the North East Link
     downstream industries.                                       and into major public transport infrastructure like the Metro 2 tunnel
     Both state and federal governments have allowed,          • Greatly expanding the public transport network
     or encouraged, previous destructive transitions.          • Continuing to build trams, buses and trains locally
     Privatisation, as happened in the Latrobe Valley,
                                                               • Supporting a rapid transition away from coal to 100% renewable energy
     and ‘economic reform’ and the neoliberal
     programs of the Hawke, Keating and Howard                 • Committing to deep emission reduction targets
     eras hurt the poorest and most vulnerable in our          • S upporting public ownership of energy production and the electricity grid
     society. As noted by the ACTU, previous industrial        • Supporting a not for profit, community owned electricity retailer
     transitions have increased inequality.
                                                               • Supporting game-changing renewable energy projects like the Star
     Tony Maher of the miners’ union says “workers                of the South offshore wind farm proposed for South Gippsland
     in Australia have spent decades being
                                                               • Ruling out further development of fossil fuel reserves
     restructured … generally without justice
     or fair burden sharing”.                                  • Protecting native forests and redeploying affected workers
     As noted by organisers in the Electric Trades             There is no doubt that further change is coming to the coal and forest
     Union, in most previous transitions, “we privatise        industries. The government needs to publicly accept this, and plan
     the profit and socialise the risk”. An example is         accordingly. Ignoring the transition until closures are announced
     the privatisation of Victoria’s State Electricity         is no longer an option.
     Commission in 1994 by the Kennett government,             You can find a link to the full report at www.tinyurl.com/transformingvic
     which delivered $22 billion in asset sales to the         You can sign on to support the vision of the report as an individual,
     government. This benefitted the state budget,             union or other organisation using the same web-link.

10      Chain Reaction #136     August 2019
The New Deal
and the Green New Deal
Katherine Phelps

My grandfather meant a lot to me. He was funny,       as 42 percent, combined with production of more
attentive and had many great stories to tell.         and more goods and rising personal debt, could
I also grew to be very proud of the work he did       not be sustained. On Black Tuesday, October 29,
during his lifetime. When I first heard of the        1929, the stock market crashed, triggering the
Green New Deal, I immediately became excited.         Great Depression, the worst economic collapse
My grandfather was an agronomist, employed            in the history of the modern industrial world. It
through one of the many programs that were            spread from the United States to the rest of the
established in the United States by the New Deal      world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early
during the 1930s.                                     1940s. With banks failing and businesses closing,
Before the Great Depression, European migrants        more than 15 million Americans (one-quarter of
settled the plains region of the US. They did         the workforce) became unemployed.”3
not understand its ecology and therefore used         Australia was also badly hit, with unemployment
deep plowing to preserve moisture in the soil.        rising to 32% in 1933.4 Our economy relied
However, in this case it removed the native           on export demand for our farm goods such as
grasses which were the area’s natural means           wool, which was shrinking as many of our trade
of conserving moisture, even during drought           partners were tightening their belts.
and high winds. Under these industrialised            President Herbert Hoover was the first US
farming methods, the topsoil turned to dust and       leader tasked with addressing this crisis, which
farming failed. This resulted in immense dust         occurred during his term. He strongly believed
storms called ‘black blizzards’. In 1935, the Black   in diplomatically working with corporations
Sunday blizzard displaced 300 million tonnes of       in order to encourage voluntary policies,
topsoil from the plains.1 The impacts of some of      which he assumed would correct US economic
these blizzards were felt as far as New York and      woes. In his December 1929 State of the Union
Washington DC.                                        Address, Hoover explained, “I have ... instituted
My grandfather was one of the people tasked to        systematic, voluntary measures of cooperation
help fix this problem. He was sent to rehabilitate    with the business institutions and with State
the area then known as the ‘Dust Bowl’. He and        and municipal authorities to make certain that
his compatriots encouraged people to replant          fundamental businesses of the country shall
the native grasses and learn to better manage         continue as usual, that wages and therefore
the land. Then US President Franklin Roosevelt        consuming power shall not be reduced.”
sent the newly-formed Civilian Conservation           He adamantly believed that people should pull
Corps to plant over 220 million trees between         themselves up by their own bootstraps. To
the Canadian border and Texas.2 The trees were        not be able to do so was a personal weakness.
planted to form a windbreak, retain water in          Between1930-31, Congress tried to pass a US$60
the soil, and hold topsoil in place. I remember       million bill to provide relief to victims of the
how pleased my grandfather was that they had          Dust Bowl. The plan was to give them access
reclaimed an area on the verge of becoming a          to food, fertiliser, and animal feed. However,
desert. His work was so well respected that he        Hoover refused to provide food and resisted
was later sent as a federal goodwill ambassador       direct relief. The final bill of US$47 million
to help people grow crops in other countries,         provided for everything except food and did
including Morocco and Egypt.                          not adequately address the crisis.5
I tell this story because it shows how effective      Many victims of the Dust Bowl ended up moving
the New Deal could be in solving problems to do       to cities, hoping to feed their families. This
with both employment and the environment.             proved a hopeless pursuit, as the whole country
                                                      was experiencing a 25% unemployment rate.
The Great Depression                                  The rate was considerably higher in industrial
The New Deal was a response to the Great              towns; sometimes up to 80%.6 ‘Hoovervilles’
Depression; the tremendous economic downturn          – tent cities full of people who had become
that began right after the US stock market crash      homeless – sprung up across the US.
of 1929. The circumstances of the time sound          After nearly four years of suffering, the people
eerily similar to our current situation.              of the US voted in Franklin Delano Roosevelt as
PBS American Experience describes the era: “The       their president. People were ready to give him
imbalance between the rich and the poor, with 0.1     a free hand to experiment with broad ranging
percent of society earning the same total income      policies in order to end the depression.

www.foe.org.au                                                                                 Chain Reaction #136   August 2019   11
private companies and cooperatives. A certain
                                                                                        amount of military funding was redirected to this
                                                                                        administration, because it was recognised that a
                                                                                        strong national infrastructure would result in a
                                                                                        stronger and more defensible nation.
                                                                                        The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
                                                                                        was a smaller agency, though it still employed
                                                                                        millions of people directly through the federal
                                                                                        government. Because of its cultural impact, it is
                                                                                        probably the best remembered of the agencies
                                                                                        that are no longer with us.
                                                                                        The WPA also built infrastructure such as
                                                                                        bridges, schools, libraries, post offices, hospitals,
                                                                                        and theatres, but at a more local level. The WPA
                                                                                        created employment for artists, writers, theatre
                                                                                        directors and musicians, producing memorable
                                                                                        works. One particularly apt product of this
                                                                                        project was a play by Nobel Literary Prize winner
                                                                                        Sinclair Lewis called ‘It Can’t Happen Here’. The
                                                                                        story charts the rise of a president who becomes
                                                                                        a populist dictator by promising to save the
                                                                                        nation from welfare cheats, rampant promiscuity,
                                                                                        crime, and a liberal press.
                                                                                        People employed by the WPA were paid at local
                                                                                        rates for similar work. This was unlike Australia’s
                                                                                        cheap, less than minimum wage, workfare. In
                                                                                        fact, unions were encouraged to protect people’
                                                                                        s right to earn a living wage under the New Deal.
                                                                                        The administrative gem of this era was the
                                                                                        Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This was a
                                                                                        public work relief program for young unemployed,
                                                                                        unmarried men. Jobs were created in the areas of
                                                                                        forestry culture and protection, erosion control,
     1935 Civilian Conservation                                                         flood control, wildlife preservation and eventually
                   Corps poster.   History of the New Deal                              disaster relief and more. The CCC planted more
                                   Within the first hundred days of his presidency,     than 3.5 billion trees and constructed trails and
                                   Roosevelt began reforming the government,            shelters in more than 800 parks nationwide
                                   reforming economic policies, and setting up          during its nine years of existence.7 The public
                                   public relief programs. The sort of control that     were overwhelmingly supportive of what the
                                   this democratically elected federal government       CCC was doing for their young men and the
                                   was able to wield over banks and businesses is       nation, both Republican and Democrat.
                                   unheard of today. In 1935 Congress passed, and
                                   the president signed into law, the Wealth Tax Act    History of the Green New Deal
                                   to redistribute wealth. This meant a 79% income      Much of what was achieved by the New Deal
                                   tax on incomes over $5 million.                      was subsequently dismantled piece by piece:
                                   Around two dozen programs were established under     first by the need to divert people from these
                                   the New Deal. Some failed. Some were rejected        programs into the WW2 war effort. Later the
                                   by the Supreme Court. Some were successful.          Congressional Conservative Coalition removed
                                   Three in particular stood out: the Public Works      much of Roosevelt’s legislation. President Ronald
                                   Administration, the Works Progress Administration,   Reagan then put the last nails into the coffin of
                                   and the Civilian Conservation Corps.                 the New Deal with policies that gave the wealthy
                                                                                        the largest tax cuts in US history and eliminating
                                   The Public Works Administration (PWA)
                                                                                        social programs. Nevertheless, the New Deal’s
                                   managed large federal projects such as the full
                                                                                        presence continues to surround the citizens of
                                   electrification of the US, as well as the building
                                                                                        the US through public buildings, history lessons
                                   of canals, tunnels, bridges, highways, streets
                                                                                        and people who remember.
                                   and sewage systems. One of its projects was
                                   the building of public housing within various        US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did
                                   cities. These were carried out via contracts with    not conceive the Green New Deal out of thin

12     Chain Reaction #136         August 2019
air. People, like myself, who know something
about the original New Deal, have been pointing
to it as a success story for how to care for both
our people and the environment. The world
has plenty of work that needs doing: cleaning
oceans, restoring environments, building
housing for the homeless. What we don’t have
is paid employment to do these things. That is
what the New Deal provided, as well as security
for all those without jobs.
During the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-
                                                                  However, they are missing a few key points from              1935 article about the
2008, people who knew about the New Deal                                                                                       Civilian Conservation Corps.
                                                                  Roosevelt’s efforts. Where is the talk of relief to
in Britain pulled together to form the Green
                                                                  those who are homeless? Where is the discussion
New Deal Group. Their first core principle
                                                                  of indigenous rights? What about people who
was that it would be “A massive environmental
                                                                  can’t take up regular employment, such as the
transformation of the economy to tackle the
                                                                  sick, disabled, elderly, and new mothers? Will
triple crunch of the financial crisis, climate
                                                                  they be left to a demeaning system where they
change and insecure energy supplies.”8 One of
                                                                  must regularly demonstrate their need, or be cut
the founding members of this group is Tony
                                                                  off? These are not sideline issues. They are, in
Juniper, who was Executive Director of Friends
                                                                  fact, part of the core problems we must engage
of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
                                                                  with in order to avoid planet-wide disaster.
from 2003-2008 and Vice Chair of Friends of
the Earth International from 2001 to 2008. They                   US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, in
published a report on 21 July 2008 which the                      his inaugural speech, that he would act swiftly
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)                       to face the “dark realities of the moment” and
began to promote. Former presidential candidate                   assured Americans that he would “wage a war
Jill Stein of the Green Party of the United States                against the emergency” just as though “we
then proposed a ‘Green New Deal’ in 2012.                         were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.” Teenage
                                                                  Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg
This idea was clearly bubbling away just below
                                                                  expressed a similar sentiment: “We can’t solve
general public awareness for some time before
                                                                  a crisis without treating it as a crisis. We need
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
                                                                  to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we
and Senator Ed Markey released a fourteen-page
                                                                  need to focus on equity. And if solutions within
resolution for a Green New Deal 7 February
                                                                  the system are so impossible to find, maybe we
2019. Ocasio-Cortez’s high visibility made the
                                                                  should change the system itself.”
resolution a subject for media commentary.
                                                                  A Green New Deal could be an important step
What the Green New Deal currently is                              in this direction. I would not be here today if it
At this point, it looks like we have three major                  weren’t for the original New Deal, so I am all for
proposed Green New Deals: the Green New                           it! We need to start making tracks now!
Deal Group, the Green Party of the United States,                 Dr Katherine Phelps has been a peace and
and the Ocasio-Cortez/Markey resolution. All                      environmental activist since the late 1970s. She is
are relying on history to give the public a sense                 the author of Surf’s Up: Internet Australia Style.
of security in making such significant changes.                   She has also written and produced musicals about
They all propose guaranteed employment for                        social justice and the environment. Recently, she
at least one member of all households (this was                   organised the event Remake the Future, where
achieved for white families alone in the US under                 people could speak directly with one of the lead
the original New Deal). They also propose higher                  authors of the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on
environmental standards, and banking regulations.                 Climate Change report.

References:
1. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl
2. https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-02-03/trees-helped-save-americas-farms-during-dust-bowl-are-now-under-threat
3. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dustbowl-great-depression/
4. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/great-depression
5. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ushistory2os2xmaster/chapter/president-hoovers-response/
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_States
7. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/civilian-conservation-corps
8. https://www.greennewdealgroup.org/?page_id=88

www.foe.org.au                                                                                                     Chain Reaction #136    August 2019         13
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