A Message From ALEC's CEO
It’s been a bruising week for all of us who are concerned and working for concerted government action on the climate crisis. While pollsters and the mainstream media reported this Federal election to be the ‘climate election’, the alternative government with a detailed plan to act on the climate crisis did not get elected.
There are many reasons for this and no doubt these will be unpacked over the next few weeks. However, the greatest impact appears to have been that of Clive Palmer spending $60-80M on an election campaign to ensure the Liberal/National Coalition government were reelected, a government that will be more supportive of his mining projects including a massive coal deposit adjacent to the proposed Adani Carmichael mine.
The impact of big money in elections has been the subject of much debate and will continue to be the biggest threat to our democracy. This is a growing threat in the Northern Territory as fossil fuel companies descend on the NT making donations to both major parties to shore up support for their polluting industry.
We have to take heart though. More people became politically engaged this year, turning out to volunteer to support organisations across the country to raise the issue of climate and environment to becoming a leading issue.
We had more young people vote than ever before and as a result we have a number of independents committed to climate action and a strong representation of Greens senators.
Here in the Northern Territory, ALP candidates managed to hold onto their seats with many people choosing their climate and environmental policies over the CLP. ALEC worked hard on this election and we want to thank all of the volunteers who spent time engaging with voters through handing out election scorecards. We know that they made a difference!
The challenges moving forward are numerous but not insurmountable. Things are changing and we have to support our young people who are seriously worried about their future in a hothouse world. We need to ensure that the Labor party remains ambitious and engaged on the climate and environment. We need to engage with the Morrison Government to put pressure on them to not remove safeguards under the guise of ‘green tape’ and build momentum against the opening up of new gasfields and coal mines.
It’s not going to be easy, but we’re not giving up. We need to face these challenges head on and I urge you to rest, reflect and get back into it as the fight continues for our future. We need to have more conversations with people we don’t agree with and help them understand the issues and the need for action.
Given the scale of the challenge, we need your help. ALEC is on the frontline of so many environmental issues ensuring we have the right regulations and legal protections for nature and our communities. We continue to speak truth to power as we push for ambitious but achievable emission reduction targets and climate action plans. We will continue to have the hard conversations and work to persuade the public of the importance of climate action and environmental protection. We do this because we care and we do this because no one else is going to. We are a product of our community and we need our community to support us to keep going with this challenging and all consuming work.
We’re running monthly volunteer onboarding sessions to engage people in our work and to support people to take action. Our next session will be on Tuesday June 25th 5.30pm, please register here https://www.alec.org.au/volunteer_onboarding_20190625. In the meantime, we will be calling, emailing and asking for your support to ensure we can keep up the good fight. If you want to help out, please contact Jasmine at ecofai[email protected] or call 89522497
If you don’t have time to give, please consider making a tax deductible donation this year to support our ongoing work. It is a constant challenge to have enough funds to continue the work we do. https://www.alec.org.au/donate
If you would like to make a larger donation, please get in touch with me on 0423511931 or email [email protected]
We are united in our commitment to our vision of ‘healthy futures for arid lands and people.’ We are committed to making change and building the people power to do it.
Get involved and get active.
There’s no better time than now!
Jimmy and the ALEC team