There is a weekend of Rallies ahead for those able to be in the Melbourne City area.
[From Blue Wedges newsletter].
1. 
* [1.] Over 60 community and environmental groups including Your Water Your Say, Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, Public Transport Users Association, Friends of the Earth, Tradewatch, Blue Wedges and may others have signed up to be part of this huge Red Alert event. We are all saying: Brumby and Rudd let’s get serious!
The Rally kicks off at 1 PM tomorrow, Saturday 5th July at the City Square (Not Fed Square) cnr. Swanson and Collins St. City.
Keynote Speaker Senator Bob Brown.
The rally will then march to Alexandra Gardens to form a human sign reading: CLIMATE EMERGENCY
* [2.] # PLANNING BACKLASH PUBLIC MEETING SUNDAY 6TH JULY
Mr. Brumby, and his mate Planning Minister Madden, the state “developers”, are making people as mad as hell! Join over 120 resident groups from city and country who have had enough of Mr. Brumby’s vision for Melbourne……which translates to more of everything. More high-rise, more shops, more high density housing, more trucks, more traffic congestion, more ships…… you name it he wants it!
But – the residents of town and country don’t want what Mr. Brumby wants. They say “We are as mad as hell and we are not going to take this any more. No more stripping away of our appeal rights. No to stripping away Councils’ planning powers.”
Speakers include: Geoffrey Rush, Rod Quantock (MC), David Davis (Liberal MP and Chair of Public Land Inquiry) and Greg Barber (Greens, MP)
Please join us at 2.30PM CLOCKTOWER TOWN HALL 750 MT ALEXANDER ROAD MOONEE VALLEY (Mel 28 J6). Show the Brumby government you care, but not for what they are doing!
For more details see: www.marvellousmelbourne.org
If you can make it and join in - please do!
Bay beaches (?) taken from Whitecliffs car park at 1.30 pm today. yes, it IS winter and the high tides are common after storms at this time of year. A local comments that if this becomes the norm - then we’ll know.
Here’s wishing you all warmth, food and shelter and a safe new fiscal year ahead …
Greetings! It is the Winter Solstice, exact at 10. 00am tomorrow morning, Saturday 21st June 2008. Our gorgeous little planet of teeming life turns on the elliptic point and starts heading back towards the Equinox (Spring) point and closer to the Sun. The bulbs are sprouting through the mulch.
Warm thoughts, sacred prayers and healthy blessings.
The dredging continues at the heads in stormy weather. I wonder what the whales will think of the Bay renovation on their journey towards warmer seas? I trust their community spirit to warn others along the way.
The adversarial system continues - our Parliamentary system is based on it and it continues through every level of society.
[Deep Sigh!].
Would that humanity could GET IT: co-operative, conscious, healthy pooling of resources and thoughts of Goodwill to benefit us all - including nature and this wondrous environment we love.
From my reckoning - it will take all of the 2, 500 years of the Aquarian Age. Am glad to be giving the incoming cycle of development and evolution a good hefty start.
I adore winter on the Peninsula: the air is fresh and clean and crisp and the sun still warm on the face and back. There is green in them there hills and gardens again AND rainbows sprouting amongst stormy clouds.
The Light is bright and clean and the atmosphere ranges from misty to sharp.
It’s a world we share and care about.
Blessings folks.
Honouring the Feminine at Boonatallung
Sunday 13th April 2008
Boonatallung (Point Nepean) is a traditional women’s birthing place, a dolphin nursery and a place of spectacular beauty and wild feminine energy. Forming one side of the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, she stands as a proud guardian for the fertility of Melbourne. Boonatallung is now under attack from the aggressive ignorance of a large-scale dredging operation in her waters.
With deepest respect for the BoonWurrung women of this land, we are called to gather together at Boonatallung to honour the feminine and bear witness to the suffering of the land, her people and her waters. As women, as children, and as men protecting the feminine, we are all called to stand strong and offer our love and compassion, for the healing of the waters and the sacred feminine, inside and outside.
Plan of the Day:
11am Meet at Gunners Carpark
11.15- 12.40pm Sacred Walk along the beach to the Point
12.40-1pm Lunch at the Point
1.00-3.30pm Gathering at the Point: Honouring the Bay and the Feminine through Music, Song, Story, Dance and Poetry; Healing Meditation; Deep Ecology and Sustaining Our Spirit; Sharing Circle…
3.30-4.45pm Return journey by walk or train.
Logistics: Meet at Gunners carpark by 11am to join the Sacred Walk of 3.5km along the beach and up to the very tip of the Point. If you prefer not to walk, you can catch a tourist train from the Visitor Centre and meet us at the tip of the Point by 1pm (train departs 12.30pm Visitor Centre).
Please Bring: Walking shoes, sun, wind and rain protection, lunch and drinking water, musical instruments, prayers, poems, dances, stories and songs. Wear white or pink.
Entrance Fees: National Park entrance fees are $7.50 adult; $3.70 child and concession. Train fees extra. Please pay at Visitor Centre.
* This is a private gathering and an invitation to you, your family and friends. You have been invited by the Wild Women of the Waters: Sophie, Rose and Meenakshi.
Contact: 040 0 846 012 or 0405 379 223
Flier for printing: boonatallung-gathering.doc
For those who think it is only the feminine that is sensitive to nature:
the-whale.doc
This is a pic of Port Phillip Bay taken from the Helicopter pad at Sorrento Park.
It shows a beautiful Bay, the happy little boats, the curves of shoreline and softened aged mountain ranges in the distance.
Our forefathers knew it was Bay, with a small opening to the sea and enclosed all around by land. An ideal site for a settlement and a small city.
It was never thought of as a port. Portland is a port and was created for that purpose. Westernport is a port and was created for that purpose.
Somewhere along the line of time and generations, competitive thinking wore away at the visions for this part of Australia. Somehow, sometime, the patriarchs in charge dismissed what IS for what could BE.
In many places of the world, the pristine beauty of nature has been , and is being, devastated by the lure of possibility beyond the simplicity of the natural. In time, everything comes full circle for there is very little in nature that forms right angles or straight lines. The Universe prefers to run on curves and cycles.
The care of our Bay is now up to all of us: the people in charge of Crown land and Sea; the organisations committed to conservation and protection; the community awareness raising groups; the users of the Bay; those who have come to love its calm joy and marine beauty.
It (the Bay) embraces and encloses us all providing a sanctuary, a shelter from the wildness of the raw Antarctic just beyond the Southern horizon. The marine life that has made this Bay their home are sensible. The people who have purchased land and developed homes and shops, businesses and yes, a City of Melbourne, know this.
The dredging of the heads will widen the opening to this Bay. We do not know what effects this will have. Time will show us as nature adapts to the swelling tides and deeper channels.
The reasons for doing this at this stage of the planetary mood swings have not perhaps, taken much into account other than vested interests in human civilisation.
This kind of dismissive insensitivity and perhaps ignorance and naivety, invariable bring the need for adjustment in thinking and planning. We humans do this, we learn and grow through experience.
Patience is needed and understanding. Planners and developers are often secular and self interested. True visionaries are rare.
For those with more wholistic scopes of knowledge and perception - it is painful to watch the stupidity of half baked ideas bulldozing through nature which will take decades to resettle and grow again.
We have such short lives. Those who want to leave a legacy of building and creating are in a hurry to achieve their own dreams. Those who are agonising over the destruction mourn that they will not see the healing take place.
It is life.
Eric Idle explores the Meaning of Life and expresses what he discovers better than I. With the help of NASA and modern micro technologies - in visuals and sound …
Enjoy!
The fury of the storm that wreaked havoc across Melbourne is well matched by the passionate fury expressed by so many at the bull headed devastation of our Bay.
The pic here is of the Bay just after the worst of the storm. The clouds were about to spit muddy rain onto our created world.
I went to the local Blairgowrie beach yesterday (3rd April). As I watched, the dreaded dredger was quietly making its way towards the heads. To think of continuing with this massive project in the wake of such a storm is mind boggling - such stupidity and arrogance plus.
I watched and wept inside myself. A seagull with a fish hook in its mouth sat next to me. Two gulls covered in oil kept shaking their feathers and another was gagging and vomiting nearby.
As if that is not enough, today, the same day the widening of the heads begins, Victorian Government is holding a Climate Change summit. Here, the Premier boasts that Victoria is on cue :
” For nearly nine years the Victorian Government has shown national and international leadership on policy and actions to reduce emissions.” Victoria’s Climate Summit
This is stated with confidence despite all the evidence to the contrary: the Government’s new fleet of expensive petrol-guzzling cars, the decisions on the Goulburn water fiasco, the introduction of GM crops, the dredging of the Bay … and so on. These people seem to truly believe in the their own mythologies. In mental health terms - this is referred to as ‘delusional’. Kenneth Davidson in the Age is kind with his words: he refers to this Victorian Government as “the main residents in La La Land.” Oh dear! Somewhere along the Way, common sense has been swamped by a plethora of pigs at the trough and self promoting experts.
There are the intrepid who truly care.
Today, Judy O’Donnell is out on the Bay with Judy Muir and a group of Bay lovers, on Polperro , showering the dolphins with warnings, protection and love.
Operation Quarantine has organised a protest at the heads for tomorrow.
You can gather at Sorrento to encourage the intrepid warriors, at Point Nepean, and at Point Lonsdale.
Saturday 5th of April
On- Land supporters Meet at:
Point Nepean National Park Carpark at 11 am
Point Lonsdale Pier at 11.30 am
Boats meet at Sorrento Pier at 10 am or at the dredge at 12 noon
Distress signals from land and water 12.30 pm onwards.
The Blue Wedges and Operation Quarantine sites will keep you up to date with activities.
The monitoring of the Bay will be carried out by the POMc team PLUS, the EPA will continue to monitor all beaches all year throught the two year project PLUS the Australian Conservation Foundation will be conducting their own in depth monitoring and reporting.
Whatever damage occurs to our Bay through this arrogant bullying behaviour - will not go unnoticed for long. Continue to campaign in whatever way you can.
The Friends of the Earth petition is awakening global awareness; local petitions and mandates coninue to put the official guardians on notice.
The earth will recover, the Bay will recover, and we shall not forget!
Melbourne and its disinterested folk and insensitive developers, will learn. Minister Garrett will learn. Premier Brumby and POMc will learn.
The Bay hurts and needs our love.
This is a planet of learning, of ‘whoops’ and ‘ouch’ and bumbling errors and patch ups, cover ups and avoidances of responsibility - until we learn. On it goes, generation after generation. There will continue be challenges to be met and problems to be solved. With our creativity, our expressive natures, through innovation and by initiating, we learn.
*pic by Jewelz Bould. [after the storm]
It is Easter and families enjoy the Easter break while the Blairgowrie Yacht club hosts a race out on the Bay. The sun has been sparkling on the water. Even ‘though it is not as clear as pre-dredging and there are pockets of silt on the sea floor and uprooted seaweed floating in clumps - people still love it. I realised as I watched these children playing in the Bay that it is so safe for little ones. The ocean is not as safe. Another young man drowned at Blairgowrie back beach on the same day.
Back a few weeks and International Women’s Day (March 8th ) was celebrated down here in Rye. Early morn and a group of women held a meditation on the pier for innocent women and children who have for so long - and are still dying - in atrocious circumstances. We scattered our flowers on the sea in sacred recognition of their sacrifice. We prayed together knowing the water of the Bay would join the ocean and the oceans of the world and circulate our blessings around the globe.
Once again, the Bay has served us well. I honour its role in our lives.
Catherine Jones is organising a Sacred walk to Point Lonsdale next Sunday 30th March. Fliers are here for you to distribute.
sacred-walk-final.pdf
Finally, the Petition organised by a concerned Mentone resident is circulating.
no-toxic-dump-in-our-bay-petition-2008.pdf
One interesting observation which strengthened my faith in the media. I know many journalists have been avidly investigating and researching. The Herald Sun on Saturday, page 9, had an article about the levels of contamination in the Bay being kept at ’safe’ levels:
Toxin tests clear
I am still uneasy about it all - can we trust these ‘experts’ ? It is a lovely characteristic of the Aussie folk to want to to trust in their pollies and corporate folk and our ‘ she’ll be right, mate ‘ characteristic is a noble one.
I am not comfortable with the revolutionary approach - have been beaten and burned by the adversarial system too many times and as I age I am more protective of my vulnerability. This is partly why I personally have chosen the angle I have.
Next Saturday evening is Earth Hour* and during that time, I shall be at the beach with a candle. The template of love and respect we have anchored around the Bay is there for us all to use whenever we feel so inclined. This is a sanctuary. May we continue to treat it as such.
Happy Easter folks!
* Earth hour
UPdate: 18 March 2008:
Tim Wilson, a local resident of Mentone, has organised a petition to reconsider handling of the toxic waste in our Bay. Please print off and distribute around your local areas.
dredging-petition-2008.doc dredging-petition-2008.pdf
There is a great deal happening in the world with which we can align ourselves. The Dredging project and the toxic dump project have been referred to the Standing Committee in the State Parliament. We do not know how long this will take. Be assured however, that it is on the agenda at last.
Low returns from channel deepening not worth the risk to the Bay.
Some fantastic news: the Australian Conservation Foundation along with Monash University will be monitoring the Bay. They need support for the project using their boat, the Orca. If you can help, please donate.
Australian Conservation Foundation
Port reports stepped up, Peter Ker, the Age
And another chance to love the world … Earth Hour
On 29 March , many homes in towns, villages and cities across the world will be turning off lights and computers, power points and televisions. Earth hour is 8- 9 pm on Saturday evening here in Ozland. It is fascinating scanning down the listed businesses and organisations committted to participate in recognition of our need to change and adapt our human creations to be more harmoniously interactive with the environment and considerate of limited resources.
Earth Hour: see the difference you can make.
You can sign up as families, individuals, friends, groups, organisations and associations, neighbourhoods, business … anyone and everyone. No outlay, no hidden cost or requirement - just turn off those lights.
Quite familiar … in reverse?! We shone lights into the dark, now we are asked to register our assistance by turning off lights for an hour. Perhaps we can head for the beach again and love our Bay. Pray for a clear and starry night!
* I shall be away until Tuesday 18 March. Press Page is updated until Tuesday 11 March. I do hope the Federal Court realises we need to think very carefully about the adverse effects of dredging up foul contamination. Our Marine Sanctuary is precious.
abc tv news: Doctors concerned about Yarra dredging. 11/03/08
Antarctic reveals pesticides, Felicity Ogilvie, abc news. 11/03/08
Melbourne, long hailed as one of the world’s most ‘liveable cities’ could easily become a model Eco City surrounding a beautiful healthy marine sanctuary (and huge carbon sink).
Imagine a city with electric cars for the CBD’s (especially taxis!) for all travel within a 30 kilometere area. Hire companies placed strategically at airports, train stations and tram depots can turn over a continual stream of these small electric cars. ( they can be seen in New York and London already).
Imagine a City with a continual alternating design of green wedges (gardens and parks) and eco buildings.
Imagine lots of people become enthusiastic green collar workers, scheduling their lifestyles and working times to balance a healthy well being.
Hope: Dream: Vision …
Good News:
The Age newspaper today: New review planned for dredging
It’s all about the money !!!
Cheery regards to Greens MP Sue Pennicuik. Those at the Rosebud Rally heard her speak … yay!
News alert: ***
SBS Insight program welcomes in the year of 2008 with a special program on Climate Change and the environment tonight:
“Don’t miss our first Insight this year, which looks at the future of our cities in the light of climate change.
The new government says it’s committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
But how much will we have to change the way we live to meet the targets?
Will cars and suburban backyards eventually give way to public transport and higher density living? How else can we reduce our carbon footprint? And is there the political will to make the tough decisions?
Tonight on Insight, Environment Minister Peter Garrett joins planners and members of the public to thrash out what type of change is needed. How is it likely to affect you? Join us tonight and find out…”
Enjoy the show,
Jenny Brockie.
Tuesdays 7.30 pm SBS
repeated on SBS on Friday 2.30 pm and Monday 1.30 pm
Blue Wedges has released video footage of Port Phillip Bay and the Rosebud reef. Beautiful viewing of a seahorse grazing ! See the Bay’s marine world, a kingdom being devastated now with nonchalant indifference for the dubious purpose of ‘economics’ and ’security’.
Also, footage on speeches given at the Rosebud Rally on Saturday 17 February.
http://bluewedges.org
*** Kids Save the Bay rally:
Ruby Pritchard, a 10 year old from the Steiner stream of Mornington Park Primary, is organizing a kids protest rally for this Sunday March 2nd at 10.00 am.
Ruby is calling all kids to join her in a ‘Kids save the Bay Rally’ and march from Mornington Park to Mornington Pier. Meet at the park at 10.00 am.
All welcome to come along and join in – it gives the kids another chance to ‘do their bit’.
[ Article from Mornington Leader]
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