Courtesy of Environmental Justice Australia
To read this important ‘Having your say’ paper, please go to this link
Please note that although these fact sheets focus on mines and quarries, the Environment Effects Statement (EES)
process will be the same for the AGL gas import project.
Like everyone else, Save Westernport and Environment Victoria have been closely following the developments around COVID-19 and public health advice.
To reduce the risk to all of us of being exposed to the virus and ensure that our events are safe for everybody, we have made the decision to postpone the People Sign Beach Rally that was planned for Sunday March 29 on Somers Beach.
Instead, we will be meeting online on March 29 at 7:30pm to discuss our visions for protecting Westernport permanently from heavy industrialisation and pollution. You can RSVP here.
We believe this is the most responsible thing to do to ensure that we are not contributing to the spread of the virus, and to protect our collective health and all those that we have contact with in our daily lives.
We are disappointed that these circumstances mean we can’t all gather together on March 29th but we are still excited about getting together online to talk about our visions for protecting our Bay permanently from heavy industrialisation and pollution.
You can RSVP here. Here is a how-to guide demonstrating how to use zoom for online meetings. If you would like a call beforehand to discuss how to use zoom, let us know by responding to this email.
Even though COVID-19 has put a temporary break on our in-person protests and actions we are not giving up the fight. We will simply find new ways to express our outrage together and tell AGL to drop their plans for a gas import terminal in our Bay.
We will confirm new dates for the People Sign so that it can proceed at a later date that is safe for everyone.
Key things for your action now:
Can’t make this time? We will host a second webinar. Click here to let us know which time works for you.
If you have any questions, please contact me by responding to this email.
In solidarity,
Victor Komarovsky
And the teams at Environment Victoria and Save Westernport
Come to our
Stop AGL
Westernport Summer
Action Launch!
Join us at Somers Hall for afternoon tea
with others who care about
our precious and unique Westernport environment.
Westernport needs you!
Find out about our campaign to protect
the Bay’s Internationally recognized wetlands,
its spectacular creatures and ecosystems
from the threat of AGL’s heavy industry.
Sunday December 1st, 2019
2-4pm
afternoon tea
Somers Hall, RW Stone Pavilion,
68 Camp Hill Road
Somers
*Please Note the 2pm start time, not Midday as reported elsewhere*
Members of Save Westernport were encouraged by the strong leadership shown by our local Mornington Peninsula Shire Council recently when it followed the lead of Melbourne City Council and other Councils world-wide and voted to implement urgent Climate Emergency measures.
The specter of vast areas of the world’s forests ablaze, and enormous amounts of safely stored carbon being suddenly released into Earth’s atmosphere seems to have made us acutely aware of the decisive action that is so desperately overdue.
Save Westernport welcomes the announcement, and we look forward to seeing Council translate good intentions into meaningful changes in the everyday actions of the Shire and its residents. We want to see real change that will make a difference.
It’s clear that the Shire’s goals are entirely incompatible with any new investment in fossil-fuels, yet AGL is still trying to force its inappropriate industrial proposal on to this community. AGL’s plan to import and process LNG in Westernport Bay is hopelessly out-of-date. The plan requires construction of a 56km gas pipeline that would quickly become another rusting example of poorly planned abandoned industry in the area. This is the last thing that Westernport needs right now that the bay is showing good signs of regeneration since the local oil industry was phased out in the 1980s.
AGL admits that shipping gas from overseas and processing it at the proposed Crib Point factory would produce at least 20% more carbon and methane pollution than regular gas, which is a fossil fuel already dangerously high in greenhouse gases.
In order to align with the aims of the Shire, future industrial proposals will need to be founded on energy from the renewable energy resources that are now available.
It’s been a whole year since Mornington Peninsula Shire Council stated its opposition to the AGL gas proposal and 56km pipeline, yet this inappropriate and deeply unpopular fossil-fuels project is still being forced upon the Westernport community.
There can be no doubt that by its actions AGL is causing irreversible damage to its reputation and brand. It’s widely acknowledged that AGL has failed to show that its plan to import gas is even necessary. They have also failed to achieve the social license needed to operate in this community.
AGL CEO Brett Redman has claimed that social license is among his top strategic goals for the year, yet AGL continues to disregard the widely expressed local opposition by stubbornly pushing ahead with the project.
AGL claims to take its environmental responsibility very seriously. Save Westernport would like to see AGL take advantage of its unique opportunity and demonstrate real corporate integrity by withdrawing from the Crib Point project. We will continue to urge the AGL Board to cooperate with this community and heed its wishes by putting their Crib Point plans in the bin.
Next Friday September 20, Save Westernport will participate in the Schools Strike for Climate in Melbourne. For the first time, school kids have invited adults to join the Strike and support their demands for a better world and immediate action against Climate Change. We invite you to march with Save Westernport. Look out for our SAVE WESTERNPORT – No AGL -banner at 2pm next Friday in the Treasury Gardens.
You can also visit our stall at Balnarring’s Sustainability Fair on Saturday October 12 from 4pm. Come and say hello and pick up our new brochure and some of our new stickers for your wheelie bins. The stickers tell AGL to put their plans for their Crib Point gas factory In The Bin! where they belong.
Remember—You can now hit the TAKE ACTION button on our Home Page and scroll down to Become a Member of Save Westernport for the value price of $10.
Fill in our Online Form or download it, and you’ll receive our regular Save Westernport Newsletter that details our activities and what’s going on locally around Westernport and the Peninsula.
You can also very simply make an online donation.
One more thing— you may receive our regular Save Westernport Newsletters and email updates, but that does not necessarily mean you’re a Member of Save Westernport. Perhaps you signed our petition or filled out a card, or you might’ve given your contact details to go on our mailing list once, but this is different—To become a Member you’ll need to fill out our Membership Form.
Becoming a Member of Save Westernport is a great way for you to make a difference. By taking action you can show your support and help our important work furthering the protection and appreciation of our precious, unique wetland location in beautiful Westernport Bay.
Right now, more than ever we need to keep up the pressure on AGL and the government, and make sure they know that this community rejects inappropriate industry in the Bay, PARTICULARLY the AGL gas import plans at Crib Point.
Save Westernport is a dedicated group of local volunteers, and your support keeps us going! Make an online donation
Or if you’d like to get involved and become a Volunteer we’d love to meet you!
With summer coming up, there will be lots going on, and you can get involved. From helping with market stalls to providing transport, there’s always lots to do. And if you’re a photographer of local landscapes or wildlife, we want to hear from you.
We appreciate your support to Save Westernport!
AGL CEO Brett Redman is in Melbourne on 12 June to speak at the Energy Week Conference so Environment Victoria and Save Westernport have taken the opportunity to ask him to meet us and receive our petition of approximately 15,000 signatures. Brett says one of his top three strategic goals for this year is social licence. He’s busy talking about it all around the country so get on the bus with us to let him know that he absolutely has not got social licence for this damaging proposal. Make sure he gets a strong message that Westernport communities remain defiant and strong in our opposition.
It’s just a few hours of your day and you might be that one extra person that makes all the difference. Don’t think one voice doesn’t count. The only way to change things is to turn up. (besides we’ll have a good time on the bus to and from Melbourne meeting each other and sharing experiences and knowledge.)
Look forward to seeing you.
Book your bus tickets here
PS. If you haven’t already signed the petition, do it now!
Oh, and if you’d prefer to meet us there, meet at main entrance to MCEC on Clarendon Street at 10am. We’ll finish at about 11am.
Where:
Mullet Street, Hastings, VIC 3915, Australia
When:
Wed 12/06/2019 at 8:00 am
This is a rare moment in the
NO AGL gas campaign
It’s been a year and we need you!
We have the attention of the candidates and the media.
Come to the meeting to find out what’s happening
Get your action kit to send a message to AGL
that the community do not want our Westernport
treated like an industrial wasteland.
Be informed. Be heard. Make your presence felt.
Things won’t change if you don’t turn up.
________________________________________________________
Have you seen our latest media articles?
You are able to register online for MayDay SOS Westernport, or simply turn up on the night, but we recommend you arrive early as it will be first-in-best-dressed.
Public meeting May Day SOS Westernport No AGL
Wednesday May 1st, 7pm Balnarring Community Hall
Tickets are free and available here , and although registration is preferred and will insure you have a place, there will be places available on the night if you decide at the last minute.