Just as there is love at first sight between people, there can be love at first sight between a person and a place.
A landscape is more than a location, it is one party in a relationship – Vaclav Cílek ,
Coming from a farming family that supplies 50,000 Australians with the milk for their breakfast every day we have come to realise that farming is so much more than food and fibre production. It’s nature that sustains us and our cows. When Nature thrives we thrive..
We live in a world that is becoming more and more aware of our environmental impact and we realise that what our family love doing could damage the pristine rainforest we were surrounded by.
We see our role as a food and fibre producer and custodians of the land is to ensure the people we employ, the people we feed and Mother Nature and the animals in our care have a voice
We realise for nature to thrive we had to be prepared to evolve just like nature
As farmers whether we own or lease the land we farm on we have a responsibility to plan for the legacy we want to leave behind. Until we have a plan, a legacy is only a good intention.
For the last ten years I have been accessing funding and expertise for multiple land holders in my region to help them leave the legacy they will be proud of
Along the way I have met many people with very different ideas on what their legacy looks like and how much time and effort and personal funding they are prepared to put into it.
As I put the final touches on the latest partnership report I am seriously despairing about what the current federal government think their land stewardship legacy will look like.
I have the joy of working with people like Erin Lake as young person passionate about our landscape
The dedicated bush regeneration team 
Regeneration work as part of the project 
Protecting the endangered Illawarra Zieria (Zieria granulata)
.and the Illawarra Socketwood (Daphnandra johnsonii),
and filming our work to share with the world
I am with the Australian Conservation Foundation’s CEO Kelly O’Shanassy on this one and our politicians need to start acting in the interests of the people they represent.
This is what Kelly had to say here
Most Australians want to do the right thing for the environment, but we are seriously lacking in political leadership on protecting nature, life and our shared future.
There are ….local climate action groups working with councils and businesses to reduce their impact on the planet. … Landcare groups restoring creeks and replanting trees on degraded land. …. solar panels going up on rooftops all over Australia. (Did you know one in five Australian households now has solar power?)
…. we should celebrate these acts of leadership which are actively creating a better future.
If only our political leaders would follow suit. Unfortunately political inaction is holding us all back. In fact, some political decisions are driving environmental destruction.
Australia’s environment has never needed a helping hand like it does now. Yet, more than ever, our leaders are turning their backs on our natural places.
…. politicians are making decisions that go against the interests of the people. And right now across Australia decisions affecting our future are being made.
The good news is clean energy is here, ready and waiting, and other countries are deploying it at a fast and furious pace. We just need the political will in this country to move towards a clean and safe future.
At a national level we desperately need multi-partisan support for strong climate change action, after all, it will take more than one term of government and therefore more than one political party to solve climate change.
Most political leaders around the globe are getting on board the clean energy train. It makes me wonder why our Prime Minister is still on the coal train.
I think one of the most important ways to tackle Australia’s environmental challenges is to raise the voices of people in this country who love nature and who want a safe future for their family and friends. That pretty much describes all of us.
Like Kelly my aim is to make it so that our political leaders find it impossible to ignore these concerns.
Surely they can see the management decisions they make now will have impacts far into the future. Surely they care. I look forward to them showing me they do
Want to join me and take a stand and Keep Australia Great Sign the petition here
#aimhigher
Sure, I think they already see the public mood for renewables and away from coal. They get the idealogy and probably agree with it. Personally, I do. The other side of the equation – when talking about the Adani mine – is the relationship with India. A trading partner, a significant part of where the world is going (with China too), a good friend of Australia, they play pretty handy cricket and a source of hard working migrants to Australia. That relationship should be handled with respect. Our government – no matter which team is batting – cannot disrespect an investor from India or China and expect our relationship to be unscathed. Like everything, it is a balance that is difficult to get right.
Yes Mike whilst India is an important trading partner it is only their wealthy that have access to the coal we supply – looking forward to some equity in the world and that means everyone having a voice
The problem is that Clean Energy is not quite here, not quite ready and we are actually still waiting for the next levels of technology that will allow it to seamlessly and sustainably integrate with the electricity supply systems (the grid) to provide us with constant and reliable energy at a price we can afford (or are willing to pay). This technology is coming and is the way of the future. I am sure that even Tony Abott would agree that there is no doubt about that. But we are not there yet and even the most basic internet searches will explain the complexities and challenges of merging the current renewable energy systems with our existing systems. We must keep pushing forward and we must encourage investment not just in renewable energy generation but also in high level energy storage and in integrating the power delivery systems. Only then will we be able to reduce and eventually eliminate our dependence on coal.