A report from Dean Bridgfoot, 100% Organiser and member of Mount Alexander Sustainainability Group:
Thursday, Oct 6
I have just come back from a rally in front of the Capital Theatre in Bendigo to demonstrate community support for climate action while Tony Abbott held a invite only “community” forum inside.
Congratulations to the Bendigo Sustainability Group and regional 100% Renewables Organiser, Karen Corr for getting over 100 people together at short notice to put Tony Abbott on the spot over the “Direct lack of Action “ plan and his negative campaigning on climate change when he visited Bendigo today. Mums with kids, the local Anglican Bishop Jeremy Ashton and loads of others handed out flyers calling on Tony Abbott to stand up for renewable energy as people entered the “invitee” only meeting, and they got great press coverage.
Karen and I managed to get “invited” after hassling Senator Ronaldson earlier on in the week (threatening to expose the “community forum” as a closed shop Liberal party only gig that it was) and managed to ask questions of Mr Negativity, one on support for renewable energy and one decrying his lack of real leadership on climate change and calling him out on his negativity and cheap political usage of the issue. Neither question went down well with the handpicked audience of course, but we made sure that the media and Mr Abbott knows that there are people willing to go out of their way to take him on.
I must admit is was confronting to stand up in front of the pro-Abbott fan club to ask a question you know the crowd will not like...so beforehand I was nervous, but when I actually stood up, said who I was, that I was a dad or 3 kids and that I was concerned about the lack of leadership and cheap politicking by Abbott on climate change I felt calm, and somehow supported by my kids and the 100 + people outside who couldn’t ask that question.... Good on you Karen and the BSG mob for pulling off the rally at such short notice.
PS we also handed over a letter to Abbott and handed out some flyers, text below. Let me know if you want to use the format for similar flyers for when Tony comes your way !
Flyer Text
This is a message from the Bendigo Sustainability Group (BSG) and Mount Alexander Sustainability Group (MASG).
We know renewable energy like solar and wind is very popular in Bendigo. We asked over 780 residents by door-knocking and in street stalls and over 92% of those asked wanted to see more investment in renewable energy to manage rising electricity prices and 84% wanted a plan to power Australia with 100% renewable energy.
To most of us using power from the sun and wind just makes sense. But we are concerned that Tony Abbott is not taking the potential for a renewable energy future for either Bendigo – or Australia - seriously.
Australia’s reliance on power from fossil fuels like coal and gas presents real risks for Australia’s economic future. Burning coal for electricity is our biggest contributor to climate change and mining for coal seam gas threatens some of Australia’s most productive farmland. Continuing to use coal and gas will lock us into old, dirty and outdated technology.
Our economy needs clean, renewable energy to thrive.
Renewable energy will create jobs in Bendigoby building and operating local wind, solar panel and solar thermal power stations.
It will also help tackle rising electricity prices because renewable energy is the only power source that gets cheaper the more we install. South Australia now produces 20% of its electricity from wind power and now has the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Australia. And in 2010 the price of installed solar PV dropped worldwide by 40%!
So what is Tony Abbott doing to power Australia with renewable energy?
The government’s carbon pricing package includes $10 billion of new funding for large scale renewable energy but the coalition doesn’t support it. So what’s their alternative?
The coalition’s Direct Action Plan will help install solar panels for households but this ignores the reality that Australians are already installing solar panels at a rapid rate anyway without the Direct Action Plan!
Most importantly for Bendigo the Coalition Plan doesn’t face up to the challenges of medium and larger scale renewable power. This plan won’t help us power our hospitals, businesses and industry. There is no plan to harness new investment in solar or wind or other larger scale renewable technologies. There is no plan for powering Bendigo or Australia in the 21st century.
Today we are calling on Tony Abbott to look after Bendigo and Australia’s economic & environmental future and stand up for renewable energy.
Can you call Tony Abbott’s office and ask him and the Coalition to deliver more renewable energy for Australia? Call Mr. Abbott’s office on (02) 9977 6411
Help us power Australia cleanly: join BSG tel:54 435244 www.bendigosustainability.org.au or MASG tel: 54 706978 or www.masg.org.au
