We've all watched the theatre of the election campaign unfold over the last four weeks and now decision time is nearly upon us.
As a non-party political peak body Queensland Conservation's role in state and federal elections is to get the best possible policy outcomes for our environment from all the parties. This election we have fulfilled that role by;
forming a consensus election platform for the Queensland environment movement and presenting it to the parties,
organising one of the largest climate rallies in the country - Sunday's Walk against Warming
co-hosting candidate environment forums in the electorates of Brisbane and Ryan .
It is our hope that Queenslanders will give appropriate weight to the needs of our environment when they make their decision on Saturday.
We have not produced a scorecard for this election. Click on the links below to view the scorecards from our colleagues at;
Walk against warming in Brisbane attracts 8000 -10,000 people.
‘Despite growing cynicism about both major political parties since the Copenhagen Summit and the failure of the emissions trading scheme, thousands of people have still turned out to voice their concerns about the future,’ said Toby Hutcheon, Executive Director of Queensland Conservation. ‘We are delighted by the turn-out."
A protest outside Queensland's Parliament House today brought together farmers and environmentalists concerned about the future of farming in Queensland
Toby Hutcheon from Queensland Conservation addressed the meeting and outlined the groups' common position in an open letter delivered to government and opposition MPs .
Queensland Conservation has written to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minster and Treasurer to congratulate them on the adoption of the Resources Super Profits Tax as recommended by the Henry Review.
"The Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) is a sound piece of public policy. We agree that it is in Australia’s economic interests to re-invest the short-term profits of the mining boom into long-term investments that benefit all Australians. It is also important that the community gets its fair share of resources that all Australians own."
We have also recommended that the income generated from the RSPT be invested into Australia's transition to a low-carbon economy as laid out in our report 'Plan B'. Plan B 1.07 Mb
The indefinite shelving of the Rudd Government’s emissions trading scheme could be a blessing in disguise; if an alternative is put in place.
The problem with the ETS was that it was so compromised that it would not have reduced Australian emissions sufficiently to even meet our obligations to keep global temperatures below 2 degrees (an agreement that came out of the Copenhagen Climate negotiations).
There were many who argued that, at least, it would have got the nation on the road to emissions reductions, an argument we were receptive to. However, it also locked us in to limited reductions until 2020. It might have got us on the road, but it also ensured that the steps we took were too small.
There is no doubt that the climate is changing and we need to act fast to prevent dangerous Climate Change.
When it became clear that the Federal Governments Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was set to fail the Australian conservation movement produced a practical action plan to begin reducing greenhouse emissions immediately.
Read 'Plan B - an agenda for immediate Climate Action' here Plan B 1.07 Mb
Actions in Brisbane following the failure of the
Copenhagen Climate Summit
This morning, immediately following the end of the climate talks in Copenhagen, Friends of the Earth activists took to the streets and bridges of Brisbane, denouncing the failure of the negotiations and imploring community members to take action.
Banners were hung from Victoria, Goodwill and Kurilpa Bridges, inside Queens Plaza shopping centre, in Indrooroopilly and in Ashgrove.
Friends of the Earth spokesperson Bradley Smith implored the people of Brisbane not to sit by while a safe climate is slowly negotiated away.
“Politicians in Copenhagen have let us down and our let children down. This outcome is effectively a death sentence for our Pacific Island neighbours,” said Mr Smith.
“This is not a proud moment for Australia. Our representatives were complicit in the failure of these talks. Back room deals, attempting to undermine previous agreements and the bullying of small and vulnerable nations were all appalling.”
“Fortunately there is still hope and a lot that Queensland can do, for example by breaking our addiction to the coal industry.”
“We now know that it will take very different political system to get meaningful international action on climate change,” said Mr Smith.
This week could mean Life or Death for our Pacific Neighbours
A bouquet of flowers was delivered to Kevin Rudd's constituency office in Brisbane today by representatives of Pacific Island nations, Make Poverty History and Queensland Conservation. The message to our Prime Minister was simple - what you decide at Copenhagen can mean life or death for our Pacific neighbours. Please, choose life.
At Queensland Conservation we have been sending the message about a safe climate. Last Saturday many of you Walked against Warming with the message for Kevin Rudd.
We thought that it was important that your local Federal MP was also given the message so we’ve attached a card for you.We would encourage you the print this out, fold it in half and send it to your MP this week to let him know what you think.
Next year your MP will be part of the decision making process on climate policy so it is vital that he or she is supporting a safe climate future.
All the best for a peaceful and happy holiday season.
To the 10,000 who filled the streets of Brisbane - Thank You!
Thanks also to everyone who signed a letter to Kevin Rudd at the Walk and online here. Your letters have now been sent with a covering letter from Toby Hutcheon, Executive Director of Queensland Conservation.
We've all watched the theatre of the election campaign unfold over the last four weeks and now decision time is nearly upon us.
Walk against warming in Brisbane attracts 8000 -10,000 people.
A protest outside Queensland's Parliament House today brought together farmers and environmentalists concerned about the future of farming in Queensland
Open letter
Queensland Conservation has written to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minster and Treasurer to congratulate them on the adoption of the Resources Super Profits Tax as recommended by the 
There is no doubt that the climate is changing and we need to act fast to prevent dangerous Climate Change.
On Saturday 7 February the Queensland Premier announced (with Clive Palmer from Resourcehouse) Australia’s biggest coal export contract.
WaW POSTER
