WATCH members have repeatedly expressed concerns about the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC), particularly the large proportion of NCCC members who are affiliated with the fossil fuel industry and the Commission’s intent to focus on a gas-driven economic recovery. Well done to Jill Coghlan for her submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the NCCC and…
We’ve long associated autumn with leaf fall and spring with blossoms, but this autumn you may have noticed something odd. Several locals spotted unseasonal flowers on pear and apple trees. In most cases it was just a few blossoms, but one very confused, smaller ornamental pear had almost a full spring bloom. There have also…
On 29 January 2020, WATCH produced the following media release: 2019 was Australia’s hottest and driest year on record, heralding Australia’s longest bushfire season. Locally records were also broken, with Border Mail letters to the editor on climate change hitting an all-time high and signalling strong community support for climate action. Wodonga Albury Toward Climate…
A record-breaking 2000 people ‘died’ outside Sussan Ley’s office in Albury during the global climate strike on Friday 20 September 2019. Poetry, music, church bells, chants and even a phone call direct to Scott Morrison’s office featured during the protest, but the highlight was the minute’s silence during the somber ‘die-in’ on Kiewa Street. …
WATCH has been hosting climate actions for a dozen years and know this Friday’s Global Climate Strike will be the Border’s biggest ever! Locally and nationally it has the support of Australia’s four big banks, the Anglican Church, Uniting Church, Pope Francis, Charles Sturt University, Scots School Albury and many other schools and businesses. The…
A dreadful flash flood hit Baranduda (on the outskirts of Wodonga) last month (2 May 2019). Such events are set to increase with climate change. According to Melbourne University researchers, “Debris flows in southeast Australia are likely to become more frequent and widespread as wildfire activity and rainfall intensity are predicted to increase.” Hourly rainfall…
On Friday 1st February 2019, WATCH released the following media release: Record breaking January temperatures coupled with low rainfall have caused significant stress on local plants including death of less established trees, burnt leaves, defoliation of deciduous trees, increased eucalypt limb falls and premature fruit drop. Albury’s January temperatures were the hottest on record, with…
This media release became The Border Mail’s front page story on 9 October 2018. Media release – 8/10/18 Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C and emission pathways to achieve this goal, a report described by the authors as one of the…
This op-ed by Dr Ben Habib, La Trobe University Lecturer in International Relations and former WATCH member, was submitted to The Border Mail but unfortunately not published. The Carmichael coal mine proposed by Indian mining company Adani in Queensland is an issue of direct importance to everyone, including residents of the Border region. Sussan Ley,…
Living Lightly article published in The Border Mail on 4/4/18, by WATCH member Bruce Key. Renewable energy is very popular, but it has a big drawback – its intermittency. This raises the question of how to store electricity so that it is available when required. The obvious answer is batteries, but it is difficult to…
