Australia Volume 42 Number 3 July 2014 People power acfonline.org.au VOLUME 42 NUMBER 3 habitat Australia is published by the Australian Conservation Foundation, NEWS REGULARS authorised by Kelly O’Shanassy CEO Inc. ABN 22 007 498 482 Melbourne (Head office) 8 | An Ode to Ian’s Lowisms 3 | | In this issue Floor 1, 60 Leicester St Carlton VIC 3053 18 | A Little Sun goes a long way 4 | | Proofsheet Ph: 03 9345 1111 Freecall 1800 332 510 Fax: 03 9345 1166 Sydney 19 | Wild things 5 | | Letter from the CEO Ph: 02 8270 9900 Canberra | Lighting the Spark | | Campaign updates 25 16 PO Box 2699, Canberra City, ACT 2601 Ph: 02 6247 2472 24 | | Ask the economist Cairns Suite 1/Level 1, 96 – 98 Lake St Cairns QLD 4870 FeatURES 28 | | EcoTravel Ph: 07 4031 5760 Fax: 07 4031 3610 Broome | | GreenHome 30 PO Box 1868 (Lotteries House) 6 Broome WA 6725 31 | | EarthKids Ph: 08 9192 1936 Fax: 08 9192 1936 acfonline.org.au/habitat iPad app available at acfonline.org.au/habitatapp Power stations Face palm: Boycotts, bears ACF membership [email protected] We have a government that speaks in and biscuits 14 Chief Executive Officer self-obsessed sound bites and loves Old Palm plantations are taking over, fuelled Kelly O’Shanassy King Coal. But we have power. It’s not coal by our insatiable appetite for palm Editor fired or reactor based. It’s community oil. But Elizabeth McKinnon argues the Tabatha Fulker power, writes Dave Sweeney. federal government’s proposed changes [email protected] to boycott laws will leave us in the dark. Guest editor: Tessa Fluence Deputy editor: Jessie Borrelle Atmospheric shift Production editor: Livia Cullen 20 It’s going to be all hands on deck to Advertising 9 The Galilee take action on climate change, but Angie Leben Ph: 0407 087 040 People may say there’s Victoria McKenzie-McHarg knows with [email protected] Buckley’s chance of your help, we’re up to the task. Design keeping dirty coal in Hypergraphia | hypergraphia.com.au [email protected] the ground, but as history shows Jessie Copyright 26 Reproduction in whole or in part may Borrelle, that may only occur with the written permission be all that’s needed. of the editor. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily views of the Australian Conservation Foundation. ISSN 0310 – 2939 Cover illustration: Hypergraphia 12 The long road to paradise habitat is printed on FSC® certified paper. Book Club Graham Tupper stands at a dusty fork An extract from Katherine in a long road. We cannot afford to take Boo’s tale of life, the wrong turn — the future of northern death and hope in Australia hangs in the balance. the hidden world of Mumbai’s undercity. 2 In this issue Letters and tweets Tessa Fluence Most medical clinics have an assortment of relationship with the earth and Sometimes it seems like it’s hailing trashy magazines in the waiting room. I take move away from parasitic, the bet- sound bites. Open for business! Cut the my back issues of habitat along and donate ter we will be. tape! Stop the boats! Axe the tax! Our gov- them in the hope that people will read them Sue King, microbiologist ernments chant such mantras in the hope and absorb the messages. Maybe even join? they’ll tunnel like earworms into the minds I think you’re right, Sue — we must Peter Wilkinson of swing voters. move towards a more symbiotic re- Times are tough for our environment. lationship with our planet. In my Hope for a sustainable future is under at- article, I took the fable of the par- tack from all sides. But as you’ll read in this We need to connect to our own Indigenous asitic astronaut from the philoso- issue of habitat, we don’t have the luxury of dances. That’s why I became a Morris danc- pher Michel Serres as a metaphor despair. We’ve got work to do. er ​—​ a traditional (folkdance) from my old for the damage we’re doing to our In these pages you’ll find stories about homeland ​—​ we connect to the earth through environment. Like abusive parasit- power ​—​ people power. A kind of power solstice and May Day dances and dances ic astronauts, people are general- that is not coal fired or reactor based, but connected to local place. There should be ly not concerned about the health community powered. more of it! When you have your own dance of our planet. We hover up high We look at the power of people coming you are able to relate even more strongly to in sanitised cities, sucking out the together, our voices becoming a collective the Indigenous dances of others. Perhaps nutrients from nature and excret- roar demanding action on climate change. one day we can learn from the Indigenous el- ing only waste. I agree, the solution You’ll also find stories about keeping coal ders of this place and make a dance that con- is to change our relationship from in the ground; boycotting products con- nects our cultural heritage with the land we one of parasitic abuse to symbiotic taining palm oil; and navigating the long are now in. co-existence. Thanks for your letter! and bumpy road towards a sustainable fu- Imogen Wall Tessa Fluence ture for Australia’s north. We need people power to turn this ear- worm-infested ship around. We need to @AusConservation build a constituency for nature of active, I have read the Returning to Earth issue Friday night by the fire with choc passionate and committed citizens. We with interest but there is a mistake. chip bikies and the newest issue need to draw on the power of communi- There is a continuum between parasit- of habitat! Yay! Thank you ty. We need you. ic and symbiotic where a symbiont is able Writer and activist Arundhati Roy dares to use the host without hurting it at all and us to block out the earworms and listen for gives back. An example of this would be a different, people-powered sound. “An- nitrogen fixing bacteria and legumes. A Please email letters to other world is not only possible, she is parasitic infection of fungus on trees typi- [email protected] and include your on her way”, she writes. “And on a quiet cally attach to trees already dying and finish name and address. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. day, if I listen very carefully, I can hear her them off. The strangler fig is a parasite, par- breathing.” asitic worms kill. Join the habitat twitter conversation The reason I bring it to attention is that @AusConservation or like us on Facebook the more we move towards a symbiotic /AustralianConservationFoundation Creating sustainable, edible gardens Small Space Organics is a down-to- To win, email [email protected] earth book by Josh Byrne on creating with ‘Small Space Organics’ in the subject an innovative organic oasis in an line, and your name, address and phone urban residential landscape. number in the email body. Two lucky We have two copies to give away, thanks winners will be announced on August 1. to Hardie Grant (RRP $29.95, available And check out a fruity extract from in stores nationally from 1 August). the book on page 30 of habitat. 3 Proofsheet Like a snake that sheds its skin, the Paperbark bark of the Saltwater Paperbark (Melaleuca cuticularis) peels off Photo: Bette Devine, in thick white-grey sheets. Often waterlogged, it grows in estuarine Paperbarks at Stokes National Park, Western Australia. marshes, swamps and coastal floodplains in south-western Australia. Its bark, leaves, flowers and twigs fall into the water and decompose so → Visit acfonline.org.au/habitat the tree can recycle its nutrients back into the ecosystem. The Saltwater to download proofsheet images as your screen saver. Paperbark secretes salt crystals onto the surface of its bark, enabling it to thrive in saltwater. It is the only known plant to do so. 4 letter from the Ceo Kelly O’Shanassy It’s frightening. Our life support system paying attention to us, the very people who ul- is under more pressure than ever before and timately give them power. Let’sour future wellbeingroar is at risk. With your help, we need to massively grow But it doesn’t have to be that way. our ACF supporter base to hundreds of thou- We can live and thrive in harmony with na- sands of Australians. We will reach new people ​ ture. We can create jobs and businesses that —​ doctors, teachers, plumbers, electricians, peo- actually rebuild our natural capital rather than ple who vote Liberal, Labour, Green and oth- deplete it. We can repair the damage done and ers. People from all walks of life who will show pass on a safe climate and thriving environ- that protecting nature is not a partisan issue but ment to our children. the responsibility of all governments, all busi- There is nothing more Thanks to you, ACF is able to work towards ness leaders and all people. powerful than people the change we desperately need. We advocate And we’re getting organised. coming together to for a better future, for better ways of living and We will help you talk to your friends and tell our governments new ways of doing business that restore rather neighbours about why nature is important and enough is enough. than deplete nature. what needs to be done to protect and restore If they want to be in But to achieve this future, we have to change it.