Okehampton Bay Court Proceedings Put Off
Federal Court proceedings by three groups opposed to Tassal’s fish farm at Okehampton Bay on Tasmania’s east coast have been put off, Bob Brown Foundation said today.
Read moreFederal Court challenge to Commonwealth decision to approve Tassal fish farm
A unique combination of tourism and environment groups have today filed proceedings in the Federal Court challenging the Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg's failure to adequately assess Tassal's proposed Atlantic salmon fish farm at Okehampton Bay, on Tasmania's east coast.
Read moreTurnbull will have whales' blood on his hands - Brown
After the decision by Sea Shepherd that it cannot match the military operation of the Japanese whaling fleet in Australia's Antarctic territorial waters, the blood of the whale slaughter will be on the hands of the Turnbull government, Bob Brown, the former chair of Sea Shepherd Australia said in Hobart this morning.
Poll shows most Tasmanians oppose Tassal at Okehampton Bay
A ReachTEL poll commissioned by the Bob Brown Foundation shows that a clear majority of Tasmanians oppose Tassal's invasion of Okehampton Bay with Atlantic salmon fish farms.
Read moreTurnbull signs Tasmanian forests’ death warrant
Bob Brown says Prime Minister Turnbull has today signed the death warrant on thousands of hectares of wild forests in Tasmania, including vital habitat trees for the critically endangered Swift Parrot.
Read moreDeath sentence for Swift Parrots signed by Turnbull & Hodgman
“Tasmania’s unique forests and wildlife have suffered tremendously since the 1997 Regional Forest Agreement and now the Federal and State governments have committed to further destruction of forests, wildlife and the climate with a flawed agreement process that has been exhaustively proven to be deficient,” Bob Brown Foundation campaign manager Jenny Weber said.
Read moreFederal and State Governments admit that world's largest freshwater lobster is in trouble
Bob Brown Foundation urges secure conservation reserves
Bob Brown Foundation calls on the Federal and State governments to take real actions to declare secure conservation reserves in Tasmania’s north, in all habitat for the world’s largest freshwater lobster, following the signing of the Recovery Plan for the Giant Freshwater Lobster (Astacopsis gouldi).
Read moreHodgman government in charge of an economy it does not understand.
Tasmanian Resources Minister Guy Barnett's pitch to the mining industry today is a thinly-veiled attack on the burgeoning tourism and hospitality industries, Bob Brown Foundation spokesperson Jenny Weber said.
'Mr Barnett's description of mining and logging as Tasmania's 'productive industries' shows his disdain for the much more job-rich tourism industry based solidly on Tasmania's wild and scenic assets.'
'The Hodgman government is in charge of an economy it does not understand', Jenny Weber said. 'And his repeated descriptions of environmentalists as 'extremists' is insulting to the majority of Tasmanians who back the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area global fame and who want the Tarkine wilderness protected for both its heritage values and its huge potential as a tourism job-generator for northwest Tasmania.'
Contact
Jenny Weber
0427 366 929
Media Release - Australia must act to prevent Japan’s illegal whale slaughter - Brown
Media Release 21 July 2017
The Bob Brown Foundation is calling for government action to match the looming Japanese naval presence with its whaling fleet in the International Whale Sanctuary in Antarctic waters this coming summer.
To quote senior Liberal Greg Hunt in Opposition in 2013: "The (Labor) government should stop turning a blind eye to whaling in our waters and should have a Customs vessel in the Southern Ocean". 77% of Australians back our government sending a ship to oppose the whaling by Japan.
“Environment Minister Frydenberg's criticism of Japan comes with no plan of action. He says the government is 'tireless' in its opposition but in fact it is tiresome, predictable, feeble and ineffective,” Bob Brown said in Hobart today.
“Australia should send naval vessels to our Antarctic waters to make a show against the illegal slaughter of our whales. These are the same whales giving birth in Australian waters right now. The minister has made no mention of going back to the International Court of Justice which ruled against Japan's whale butchery in 2014.”
Contact
Jenny Weber
0427 366 929
Urgent plight of Tasmania’s Tarkine to be captured by 120 artists
Media Release 7th April 2017
Photo: Arwen Dyer
120 artists will join one of Australia’s biggest environmental arts projects next week, as they travel to Tasmania’s Tarkine wilderness with the Bob Brown Foundation.
Tasmania is home to takayna / Tarkine, a vast remote region of wild forests, including Australia’s largest tract of temperate rainforest and a National Heritage listed Aboriginal cultural landscape coastline. The Tarkine is an essential stronghold for numerous rare and endangered creatures.
The Bob Brown Foundation is leading a campaign for secure protection of 450 000 hectares of the Tarkine in a National Park, World Heritage listing and a return to Aboriginal ownership.
‘This is one of the last great wild places left on Earth and protection is urgently needed to stop the loss of its globally unique values,’ Bob Brown Foundation Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said.
‘Logging and mining in takayna / Tarkine and off-road vehicle access to its sensitive coastline continues to damage globally unique natural and cultural values. This Easter, our Tarkine in Motion project will send 120 artists into the Tarkine to capture the beauty of this threatened place. Despite consistent calls for protection and support for alternative industries like tourism in the region, logging, mining and off-road vehicle access over Aboriginal heritage sites is sanctioned by the Tasmanian and Australian governments,’ Jenny Weber said.
120 artists, supported by a team of 30 volunteers, will spend 72 hours exploring this remote part of north-west Tasmania, creating works aimed at gaining protection for the Tarkine.
‘Our environmental arts project is growing into one of the largest events of its kind in Australia. The innovative approach to hosting artists in remote camps at seven locations across this vast region is a unique way to promote conservation of the Tarkine,’ Jenny Weber said.
‘In its third year, Tarkine in Motion has hosted more than 150 artists to the Tarkine, bringing enormous success to the campaign to protect this wild place. Using images from Tarkine in Motion, the Foundation has published two books. Tarkine Trails, a bushwalking guide and takayna – a beautiful book about the living Aboriginal cultural connection to the Tarkine. The event has also spawned a feature-length documentary, concerts and exhibitions in Hobart and regional Tasmania. Further afield, exhibitions have been held in Melbourne, Bendigo, Sydney and Brisbane.
‘This year, our Foundation and the contributing artists will achieve a new body of work and campaign materials for our burgeoning campaign for protection, including paintings, film, textiles, sculpture, photographs and more,’ Jenny Weber said.
Over the Easter weekend, a diverse group of international, interstate and Tasmanian artists will spread out across Tasmania’s takayna / Tarkine. Artists will be located from Arthur River in the north to Pieman Heads and Interview river on the remote southern coastline. Other locations are deep in the threatened rainforests and at the tourism hubs of Corinna and Tarkine Wilderness Lodge.
The Bob Brown Foundation is currently fundraising for the project on crowd-funding platform Pozible. The Foundation sponsors artists’ travel to the Tarkine and provides volunteer organizing teams and communal meals for the artists while they are in the Tarkine.
The link to the Pozible project is https://pozible.com/project/tarkine-in-motion-1
Attached photographs from Tarkine in Motion 2016. Full resolution images linked from thumbnails below.
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Media contact
Jenny Weber 0427 366 929