Earth Matters presents local, national and international environmental issues with a strong social justice bent. Interviewees range from individual activists to well-known environmental commentators and scientists.

Bringing fresh environmental news and perspectives to our listeners, Earth Matters contributes to public debate, reports on under-reported activist campaigns and informs the community on critical ecological  issues.
(In English)

Tune in: Sunday 11 – 11.30am
Repeats: Monday 10.30 – 11am, Wednesday 6.30 – 7am

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Broadcast nationally on the Community Radio Network of Australia.

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Presenters : Domenica Settle, Christie Stott, Rachel Maher and Jenny Denton 

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Past shows on Earth Matters

 

15th August - Trouble on the Darling Downs

The Darling Downs is just west of Brisbane, has incredibly fertile black soil and is studded with mining exploration licences. Anger is brewing among farmers, about loss of food farming land, about climate change and about having no say, as mining companies move on to the family farm. On Earth Matters two Darling Downs farmers talk about what's happening to them, what farmers plan to do and what the alternatives are.

Guests: Ruth Armstrong, Basin Sustainability Alliance; Rob McCreath, Friends of Felton
Presenter: Domenica Settle 

8th August - Community exclusion in Rosebery and Saving the Weld

Residents of Rosebery are pursuing recognition of their exposure to heavy metals from a nearby lead mine while mine owners, MMG, state there is no risk of environmental contamination. An update from South West Tasmania on old-growth clear felling & threatened World Heritage Area.

Guests: Isla McGregor, Whistleblowers; Jenny Webber, Huon Valley Environment Centre
Presenter: Nicky Stott, Christie Stott

1st August - Melbourne Water Youth Conference

More than 400 kids came together in Melbourne in June for a conference about water sustainabiity run by Kids Teaching Kids. Peter Davis went along and captured some of the action.

Guests: Various
Presenter: Peter Davis

25th July - Community campaigns to improve one million Victorian homes

The One Million Homes Alliance has a multi-billion dollar vision to improve the energy and water efficiency in almost half of Victoria's houses over the next five years, with priority given to low income households.

Guests: Brad Shone, Moreland Energy Foundation; Sue Fraser, Kildonan Unitingcare
Presenter: Rachel Maher

18th July - Red gum protected, Indigenous people in the driving seat

In late June the Barmah National Park was launched, part of 200,000 hectares of red gum now protected. It’s divided the local community, but it’s a historic occasion for the Yorta Yorta people, who will finally be getting some control of their land.

Guests: Various
Presenter: Domenica Settle

11th July - "Greening" al-Naqab and not dealing with waste

Indigenous activists in southern Israel and in Australia discuss the impact ethnic cleansing continues to have on biodiversity in the Naqab Desert. And a risky shipment of the waste stockpile of toxic HCB is bound for a hazardous incineration process in Denmark – why can’t Australia clean up its own waste?

Guests: Khalil Al-Amur, Bedouin activist; Kim Bullimore, Australian/Murri activist ; Dr Mariann Loyd-Smith, National Toxics Network
Presenter: Nicky Stott and Christie Stott

4th July - The Kimberley LNG, marine sanctuary campaign and cassowaries in trouble

A controversial LNG processing plant is being built at James Price Point in the Kimberley; the call for a network of Australian marine sanctuaries is to be declared; and Queensland’s cassowaries are in trouble, with a pre-election campaign to pressure the federal government into buying homes for the birds.

Guests: Renae Williams, The Wilderness Society; Michelle Grady, Pew Environment Group; Ruth Rosenhek, Rainforest Information Centre.
Presenter: Jenny Denton 

27th June - Alternative technology in East Timor and ethical shopping

Hear how Alternative Technology Association volunteers are helping instal solar lighting and water pumps in East Timor; and we take a look inside the 2010 guide for ethical shopping.

Guests: Anton Vikstrom, Alternative Technology Association; Nick Ray, Ethical Consumers Group
Presenter: Rachel Maher

20th June - Australia ditches the car

Australia ditches the car: Los Angeles stopped building freeways 20 years ago, and now it looks like Australians are finally ditching their cars for bicycles and public transport, and our governments are putting real money into sustainable transport.

Guests: Peter Newman, transport activist;  Peter Bourke, Cycling Promotion Fund; Janet Rice, Greens candidate for the seat of Footscray
Presenter: Domenica Settle

13th June - Forestry NSW Woodchipping our koalas

A critical Australian Koala habitat in Mumbulla State Forest, on the far south NSW coast, is in danger of being destroyed by Forestry NSW illegal logging. Since March 2010, local activists have been blockading to defend the forest – including state-protected zones sacred to traditional Indigenous Owners.

Guests: Lisa Stone, South East Forest Rescue Network; Lee Rhiannon, Greens NSW Upper House.
Presenter: Nicky Stott

6th June - What's going on with uranium?

Turning his back on billions, Djok clan man Jeffrey Lee is offering land containing one of Australia's biggest uranium deposits for inclusion and protection in Kakadu National Park. We speak to ACF anti-nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney and NT Environment Centre coordinator Stuart Blanch about Jeffrey Lee and the Koongarra deposit.

Guests: Dave Sweeney, Australian Conservation Foundation;Stuart Blanch, Northern Territory Environment Centre
Presenter: Jenny Denton

30th May - Identifying with the river and harnessing the wind

An Australian first in harnessing the wind and how the Conservation Council of South Australia is building awareness about the River Murray through pictures and stories.

Guests:  Julie Marron, Conservation Council of South Australia; Vicki Horrigan, Hepburn Wind
Presenter: Rachel Maher

23rd May –  Massive expansion of the coal industry

Australia's coal industry is expanding on a massive scale, from mega mines in Queensland to a doubling of Newcastle's coal export capacity. And it's not just the climate on the line, with threatened species and water at risk, and coal dust settling in people's houses and in their lungs.

Guests include: Alan Hayes, Australian Coal Alliance; Patricia Julien, Mackay Conservation Group; Steve Phillips, Rising Tide
Presenter: Domenica Settle

16th May – Buying back the river's water

The Murray-Darling River system is in dire straits, but can the water buyback scheme help to restore it? Dr Paul Sincliar believes it’s so important that the Australian Conservation Foundation initiated their own buyback process to Just Add Water. And hear about Community Sustainability Grants from the Conservation Council South Australia.

Guests: Dr Paul Sincliar, Australian Conservation Foundation; Julie Pettett, Conservation Council South Australia.
Presenter: Christie Stott

9th May – Big issues from Bolivia and Brazil

Big issues from South America – the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia, and its ‘people’s agreement’. And in Brazil the Belo Monte dam, a massive hydroelectric project, which would dry out a 100km stretch of a tributory of the Amazon, displace 20,000 people and cost more than $10 billion.

Guests:  Eduardo Giesen,  Friends of the Earth Latin America; Aviva Imhof, International Rivers
Presenter: Jenny Denton 

2nd May – The power of the forest and toxic houses

A vision for the future of forestry in Victoria – how plantations offer the dual benefits of creating sustainable jobs and supplying us with timber (Recorded at Sustainable Living Festival). Also, how the air inside our homes can be up to 90 times more polluted, how products in your average home can be damaging our health, and tips to make your home environment less toxic.

Guests: Luke Chamberlain, The Wilderness Society; Jo Immig, National Toxics Network
Producer: Domenica Settle

25th April – Trading away environmental laws?

Concerns about new free trade agreement which could make it hard for Australia to create environmental laws. And a very different approach to the economy: a new project to get people meeting their neighbours and sharing stuff.

Guests: Harvey Purse, Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network; Michael Green, The Sharehood.
Presenter: Domenica Settle

18th April – Plastics adrift on the open sea

Marine debris is listed as one of Australia’s key threatening processes and the biggest culprit is of course, plastic. Three groups outline their initiatives in marine conservation and cleanup – WWF’s marine watch; the Carpentaria Ghost Net Programme and South West Marine Debris Cleanup in Tasmania.

Guests: Lydia Gibson, WWF-Australia; Riki Gunn, Northern Gulf Resource Management; Matt Dell, South West Marine Debris Cleanup.
Presenter: Christie Stott

11th April – The costs of activism

The fight to block gold mining in El Salvador claimed the lives of three environmental activists last year. Now Canadian company Pacific Rim is suing the country, under CAFTA, for not letting it go ahead with extraction. Meanwhile Sydney climate activist Natasha Verco is awaiting judgment in Copenhagen on charges that carry a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment.

Guests: Dr Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth El Salvador; Holly Creenaune, Friends of the Earth Sydney.
Presenter: Jenny Denton

4th April – Choose the right Easter seafood and transforming landscapes in the Central Desert

How to make wise choices and keep your Easter seafood consumption sustainable; an update on the community gardens project in Alice Springs, after two unseasonally wet months; and the annual Peter Rawlinson award for grassroots campaigning – nominations are open.

Guests: Ben Birt, Marine Conservation Society; Jimmy Cocking, Arid Lands Environment Centre.
Presenter: Rachel Maher

28th March – Playing politics with nuclear waste

The government is planning a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty in the Northern Territory. Find out the big money connection, how the Indigenous community came to be divided on the issue, and why the government has decided to ignore the advice of scientists and doctors.

Guests: Dave Sweeney, Australian Conservation Foundation; Dr Bill Williams, Medical Association for Prevention of War.
Presenter: Domenica Settle

22nd March – Forests to the Sea

The NSW Government’s announcement to protect over 100,000ha of red gum forests comes with a catch – that the vulnerable Millewa forests will continue to be heavily logged for another five years. Also, plans to scuttle the HMAS Adelaide off the NSW coast has local residents concerned about the detrimental effects of heavy metals and PCBs.

Guests: Jonathan La Nauze, Friends of the Earth Melbourne; Steven Ross, Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations; Ian Cohen, NSW Greens MP; Quentin Riley, No Ship Action Committee.
Presenter: Christie Stott

15th March – Sharks and climate disinformation

We talk to climate scientist Prof. David Karoly about organised attempts to create confusion about climate change; and Toni Nossiter, a Snowy Mountains woman on a 1400km 'advocacy walk' for sharks through the south-west of WA, as well as the Australian Marine Conservation Society's Ben Birt about the situation of sharks in Australia.

Guests: Prof. David Karoly, Science Research Melbourne University; Toni Nossiter, Walks for Awareness; Ben Birt, Marine Conservation Society
Presenter: Jenny Denton

28th February – Freeways eat bush

Two islands of biodiversity facing the bulldozers as freeways expand: the Beeliar Wetlands to the south of Perth, and the Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve on the southern edge of Melbourne. Hear about them, and how viable the alternatives are.

Guests: Joe Branco, North Lake Residents' Association; Gillian Collins, Friends of the Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve, Tony Morton, Public Transport Users' Association
Presenter: Domenica Settle

21st February – Reconnecting the bush

Gondwana Link is a habitat restoration project aimed at reconnecting 1000km of native vegetation across the south of WA. We look at how the project evolved as a successful form of landscape-scale conservation and the positive effects it’s having on the land, communities and conservation groups.

Guests: Keith Bradby, Gondwana Link; Wayne O’Sullivan, Wilderness Society; Angela Sanders, Bush Heritage; Barry Heydenrych and Eugene Eades, Greening Australia
Presenter: Christie Stott

14th February – Transition Decade and the 'Gagged' on the Gunns 20

The Transition Decade and the Gunns 20: Giselle Wilkinson talks about the campaign's clarion call to get on board and make the change to a safe climate happen. And Greg Ogle, former Wilderness Society legal coordinator, talks about his book 'Gagged' and the disaster of the Gunns litigation against Tasmanian forest protesters.

Guests: Giselle Wilkinson, Transition Decade; Greg Ogle
Presenter: Jenny Denton

Preview	Attachment	Size
	Earth Matters - Past Shows Archive (RTF)	6.13 KB
	Community Radio Stations taking Earth Matters (RTF)	2.23 KB
	Earth Matters - CRAM Article June 2006 (RTF)	33.79 KB