Vice-President Adrian Polhill was invited (by Landcare) to a recent (December 9, 2022) awards luncheon with NSW State Premier with approximately 300 volunteers from many organisations. The Premier loudly, and rightly so, praised the enormous efforts of the volunteers for their incredible efforts in reaction to the recent massive flood events in Eastern Australia. An earlier ‘reactive’ measure by the Federal Government in October 2022, was a $588 million budget plan for disaster relief services.
However, the environmental, social, mental and physical impacts of these catastrophic events could well have been mitigated IF many more funds were directed to ‘preventative, science-led approaches’ to restore Australia’s diverse landscapes and address the crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. OFF has commenced a campaign (lead by Adrian) to increase funding for Landcare, Greening Australia and like minded organisations.
Adrian has written letters to Senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie (Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Australia’s Disaster Resilience) requesting their assistance. Further letters will be sent to other Senators and Federal Members of Parliament who have shown their concerns for climate change. OFF will also be making a submission to the Federal Treasury regarding priorities for the 2023 24 Federal Budget. Please find time to support this important campaign and write to the Federal politicians who care about our planet and the impact of climate change.
Adrian’s letters are available below, and can be used as inspiration for members’ letters. Your letters can be quite straight forward and to the point. They don’t have to be lengthy. The important thing is that Members of Parliament receive a number of messages asking for increased funding, preferably before the middle of February 2023.