Add your name to this open letter to Minister Tanya Plibersek, and show your support for this legal intervention

The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP
Minister for the Environment
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House

By email: [email protected]

Dear Minister Plibersek,

We write to you from all parts of this country: from the mountains and cities, towns and regional areas, from the bush and the beach, from right across Australia’s deserts, plains and valleys.

We write this letter to you in support the Environment Council of Central Queensland’s applications, which ask you to reconsider the decisions made by previous Ministers for the Environment in relation to 19 gas and coal proposals which await your approval. 

Together, we call on you, as our new Environment Minister, to face our shared climate reality, listen to the science, and act.

The science is unequivocal. From extreme fire to ocean heatwaves and acidification, drought to extreme rainfall and flooding, we are already seeing the physical impacts of climate change across the country.

The evidence is clear. Every tonne of greenhouse gas emissions counts. New gas and coal projects are likely to have a significant impact on our planet. At risk are Australia’s most iconic animals, ecosystems and places.

This is about all of it. Koalas, green turtles, bilbies, dugongs, platypuses and Tassie devils. It’s about birds that traverse the planet to nest in our internationally protected wetlands, and whales that nurse their calves in our seas. It’s about delicate alpine ecosystems, thunderous waterfalls, miraculous deserts and ochre-toned escarpments. It’s about the living cultural heritage of First Nations people. It’s about Kakadu. The Tarkine. The Reef.

And it’s about all of the extraordinary animals, reptiles, birds, plants, heritage and places we want our children and their children to know and love.

It’s time to face this. The impact of extracting and burning more fossil fuels on Australia’s natural wonders would be catastrophic.

We, as concerned people from all corners of this continent, are jointly calling on you, as our Environment Minister, to face our shared reality, listen to the science and ensure all environmental assessments of new gas and coal projects are evidence-based.

The future is not yet written. However, our federal environmental laws will not work in the way that was intended unless you take this step to recognise the catastrophic impact that the emissions created by burning fossil fuels are having on our climate and on our living wonders.

The fate of Australia’s living wonders – and all of the unique animals, plants, ecosystems and places we all love – depends on it.

Thank you for hearing us.

Yours faithfully,

Emma Heyink,
Margaret River

and the undersigned