Home

The next general Earthcare meeting will feature a talk by Neil Blake, who is currently in charge of the penguin research project and who has been overseeing the recent repairs to the Breakwater. He will provide us with an update on the state of the penguin community and the Breakwater, and outline the future plans for enhancement and maintenance of this environment. The meeting will be held at "The House", cnr Blessington and Herbert Sts St Kilda, at 7:30pm on Thursday 24th September. All welcome.

We received this E-Mail message from the ACF, and urge you all to support the proposed National Day of Action on August 20th in whatever ways you can ....

Dear Friends,

At the request of a recent meeting of state and national environment groups, we are writing to propose an initial strategy to deal with the proposed new national environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Bill 1998 (the EPBC Bill).

There are at least three main parts to a strategy: (1) the public campaign, (2) the Senate Inquiry into the EPBC Bill, and (3) amending and/or defeating the Bill in the Parliament. This note talks about the first part - the rest will come later.

A large number of regional, state, national, and international groups - from the Australian Council of National Trusts to Greenpeace - have

rejected fundamental aspects of the EPBC Bill. The conservation movement believes that the Bill

cannot be passed in its current form, and if it cannot be changed, then it should be rejected.

To achieve this, we need your help to get the public campaign going as soon as possible. We propose a NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION on 20 AUGUST to launch the campaign.

Firstly, gather information about the EPBC Bill. ACF will continue to send info sheets (you should have already received no.1), and the EDO has their analysis of the Bill posted at http://www.edo.org.au/cthlrev.htm.

Think about what it will mean for your local or your state environmental issues. The idea for the National Day is to talk about how the environment would be affected by the new law, all over the country, using messages that are nationally consistent.

Email the ACF if you need advice on how it may affect particular environmental issues. Wayne Sanderson, ACF's Media Officer, is calling all the conservation councils and environment centres to talk about state issues of national significance that we can bring to the public's attention on the National Day. If you would like to be involved, please let Wayne know on acfnlo@peg.apc.org.

More information is on its way.

regards

Mark Horstman (ACF), Imogen Zethoven (Coordinator, Qld Conservation Council), on behalf of state and national environment groups

The Photographic and painting competition were launched at the July Earthcare meeting. Verne Krastins helped us to discuss the possibilities for our artistic endeavours.

Firstly it is important that it is clearly in the City of Port Phillip, also a reminder that West Gate Park is not included in our city.

The following is a list of notes taken at the meeting :

• Animals, plants, aerial, land based, relationship between nature and the city, tell a story, e.g. Bird using building.
• Water, land surfaces.
• Sky, weather, day, night, twilight.
• People activities or results of activities.
• Parks... Do they create natural events? Have they feral inhabitants?
• Shoreline, lanes, your own garden
• Time, then, now.
• Social comment
• Posed or active
• What would the picture be used for in future?
• If you remove some of the context you get a stronger image
• Wild…… desolate ,domesticated thing in the wild, untamed, untouched, dishevelled, disorderly, natural place in a built environment.

Entry forms are available at the town halls, libraries , art suppliers and Earthcare.

Make this a very special January 1999 for visitors to St Kilda as they wander around the gallery in Grey Street and see your impressions of the Wild Places in the City of Port Phillip.