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| Founded | 1977, Australia |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-governmental organisation |
| Focus | Environment, peace |
| Location | |
Area served | Australia, Pacific |
| Method | Direct action, lobbying, research, innovation |
Key people | David Ritter Chief Executive Officer |
| Website | www.greenpeace.org.au/ |
Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP) is the regional office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace. Greenpeace Australia Pacific is one of Australia's largest environmental organisations.
Greenpeace Australia had its roots in 1974 when Rolf Heimann skippered the 30-foot Tahiti ketch La Flor from Melbourne to Mururoa via New Zealand, to protest against French atmospheric nuclear testing, but arrived after the final nuclear test for the year.
The regional office emerged when an activist group, the Whale and Dolphin Coalition, invited Canadian Bob Hunter, Greenpeace co-founder and its first president, and his wife Bobbi, Greenpeace's first treasurer, to Australia in 1977. [1]
Greenpeace's first direct action in Australia opened on 28 August 1977, at Albany, Western Australia against Australia's last whaling station. Over the next three weeks, activists used Zodiacs to place themselves between the harpoons of the three whale chaser ships and sperm whales up to 30 miles offshore. [2]
In early 1998 Greenpeace Australia and Greenpeace Pacific teamed up to become Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP). The organisation currently maintains an office in Sydney, but operates throughout Australia.
Greenpeace uses tactics of non-violent direct action and 'bearing witness' to draw attention to what it considers significant threats to the environment, and then lobbies for solutions.
Greenpeace describes itself as 'the leading independent campaigning organisation that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future'. [3]
The Australia Pacific division of the organisation has currently identified protecting forests and oceans, defending the Pacific Islands, ending the oil age, preserving the great barrier reef, creating a coal free future and conserving the Antarctic as its campaigning priorities. [4]
In June 2017 Norwegian-based oil and gas explorer Statoil ASA became operator and 100% equity owner of two exploration permits of approximately 12,000 square kilometres in the Great Australian Bight. [5] Greenpeace and members of the Great Australian Bight Alliance assert that the risk of a spill and presence of the industry in the region poses an unacceptable threat to the environment and livelihoods of local communities. [6]
Campaign activities have centred around promoting South Australia's investments in renewable energy, raising awareness of the perceived risks and supporting grassroot opposition movements within the region. [7] [8]
As part of their objective to create a coal-free future and protect the Great Barrier Reef, GPAP joined the Stop Adani movement. The campaign aims to halt Adani Group's proposed Carmichael coal mine project in the Galilee Basin, Queensland. [9] The project includes plans to build 200 km of rail line and a new port terminal at Abbot Point.
The campaign has focused on preventing the Adani Group from accessing the funding or resources it needs to open the Carmichael mine, building public momentum and applying pressure on politicians to oppose the project. [10]
In December 2016 GPAP published the report 'Off Track: Why NAIF (Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility) can't approve the Carmichael Rail Project' which expressed concerns over NAIF independence and ability to approve a rail line loan while complying with organisational loan eligibility criteria. [11] In late 2017, the Queensland government announced that it would veto any federal NAIF funding for a Galilee Basin rail line, effectively ending the prospect of NAIF subsidising Adani's rail proposal. [12] In February 2018 rail company Aurizon withdrew its NAIF loan application. [13] In July 2019, over 500 protesters gathered at the Brisbane Square with the aim to 'stop the city' demanding the state government to revoke the approval of the mine. [14] The environmental approval for the mine came in June 2019. [15]
As part of its "creating a coal-free future" mission, GPAP ran a campaign against the Commonwealth Bank in March 2017.
The Commonwealth Bank funded more pollution from fossil fuel projects than any other Australian bank since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. GPAP's campaign aimed to get the Commonwealth Bank to stop financing new coal projects. [16]
After putting a lot of pressure on the Commonwealth Bank through massive supporter mobilisations and actions around the country, the bank's chair Catherine Livingstone finally told shareholders in November 2017 that the Commonwealth Bank's exposure to coal would decline. [17]
Prior to that, following immense public pressure, in August 2017, the Commonwealth Bank ruled out Adani's coal mine project in the Galilee Basin threatening the Great Barrier Reef. [18]
GPAP asserts Great Barrier Reef is under unprecedented threat from climate change. After the two severe coral bleaching in the Australian summer of 2016 and 2017, [19] GPAP has strengthened its opposition to the expansion of the coal industry in Australia and advocated for a transition to renewable energy.
In 2011, after plans became publicly known, GPAP fronted efforts to expose the perceived risk that mining prospects in the Galilee Basin posed to reef health, and has campaigned on the issue since. Greenpeace's two reports – 'Boom goes the Reef' and 'Cooking the Climate, Killing the Reef' [20] – publicly exposed the plans to open up the Galilee Basin to coal mining and analysed their consequences for the climate and the Great Barrier Reef.
In December 2017 GPAP collaborated with international artist Flume. A track set to a backdrop of image of bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef was released. [21]
One of the fundamental principles of Greenpeace, and GPAP, is that funding is 100% financially independent from governments and corporations. [22]
GPAP reported $26.43 Million (AUD) in revenue and $28.38 Million of expenses in 2023. [23] This makes Greenpeace Australia Pacific one of Australia's largest environmental groups, declaring $215.4 Million in revenue over the last decade. GPAP also declared 85.9 full time equivalent Staff (FTE) and 300 volunteers.
According to disclosure through the ACNC, GPGAG source their funding funding from regular auto-giving donations (46%), new supporters (5%), major donations (25%), special appeals (6%) and bequests. GPAP spent $9 Million on fundraising appeals, generating $25M in proceeds.
An additional $722,000 in financial support was received from Greenpeace International in the 2020 financial year. GPAP reported a surplus in 2020 of $4,016,316 including the $1,090,500 received from the Australian Government's COVID-19 JobKeeper subsidy.
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, anti-war and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, advocacy, research, and ecotage to achieve its goals.
The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the French Natural Park of the Coral Sea and the Australian Coral Sea Marine Park. The sea was the location for the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major confrontation during World War II between the navies of the Empire of Japan, and the United States and Australia.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services, including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment, and broking services. The Commonwealth Bank is the largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange as of August 2015, with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments, ASB Bank, Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure). Its former constituent parts were the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and the Commonwealth Development Bank.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability.
Lady Elliot Island is the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The island lies 46 nautical miles north-east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately 45 hectares. It is part of the Capricorn and Bunker Group of islands and is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia. The island is home to a small eco resort and an airstrip, which is serviced daily by flights from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Adani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Ahmedabad. Founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business, the Group's businesses include sea and airport management, electricity generation and transmission, mining, natural gas, food, weapons, and infrastructure. More than 60% of its revenue is derived from coal-related businesses.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is an Australian environmental not-for-profit organisation. It was founded in 1965 as the Queensland Littoral Society before changing its name to the Australian Littoral Society and then finally in 1995 to its current title. It works on protecting the health and vitality of Australia's coasts and oceans.
Coal is mined in every state of Australia. The largest black coal resources occur in Queensland and New South Wales. About 70% of coal mined in Australia is exported, mostly to eastern Asia, and of the balance most is used in electricity generation. In 2019-20 Australia exported 390 Mt of coal and was the world's largest exporter of metallurgical coal and second largest exporter of thermal coal. While only employing 50,000 mining jobs nationally coal provides a rich revenue stream for governments.
Abbot Point Port is home to the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT), the most northerly deepwater coal port of Australia, situated approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-west of the township of Bowen (Queensland). Established in 1984, it consists of a rail in-loading facility, coal handling and stockpile areas, and a single trestle jetty and conveyor connected to a berth and shiploader, located 2.75 km off-shore. Coal reaches the port via the GAP railway line from the Bowen Basin Coalfields.
Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is an Australian NGO that encourages, funds, and provides lawyers and legal support for litigation, law reform, and community engagement on climate change and environmental issues. EDO formed in late 2019 with the merger of eight separate state and territory organisations into one national organisation. Topics of interest to EDO include: climate change, biodiversity, water, and healthy communities.
The Environmental Defender's Office (NSW) in Sydney, New South Wales, was one of nine EDO offices located across Australia, formerly known as the Australian Network of EDOs (ANEDO).
Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) is an Indian multinational publicly-listed holding company and a part of Adani Group. It is headquartered in Ahmedabad and primarily involved in mining and trading of coal and iron ore. Through its various subsidiaries, it also has business interests in airport operations, edible oils, road, rail and water infrastructure, data centers, and solar manufacturing, among others.
The Galilee Basin is a large inland geological basin in the western Queensland region of Australia. The Galilee Basin is part of a larger Carboniferous to Mid-Triassic basin system that contains the Cooper Basin, situated towards the south-west of the Galilee Basin, and the Bowen Basin to the east. The Galilee Basin covers a total area of approximately 247,000 square kilometres (95,000 sq mi). The basin is underlain by the Carboniferous Drummond Basin and overlain by the Cretaceous – Jurassic Eromanga Basin. The Triassic and younger sediments of the Galilee Basin form the basal sequence of the Great Artesian Basin drainage basin.
Melissa Lee Price is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Defence Industry from 2019 to 2022 and as Minister for Science and Technology from 2021 to 2022 in the Morrison government. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2013, representing the Division of Durack in Western Australia. A member of the Liberal Party, she previously served as Minister for the Environment (2018–2019) and Assistant Minister for the Environment (2017–2018).
The Carmichael coal mine is a coal mine in Queensland, Australia which produced its first shipment of coal in December 2021.
Dawn Elizabeth Walker is an Australian former politician. She was appointed as a Greens member of the New South Wales Legislative Council on 22 February 2017 to fill a casual vacancy resulting from the resignation of Jan Barham, and served until her defeat at the 2019 state election.
Felicity Jane "Flic" Wishart was an Australian conservationist and environmental activist.
GovernmentRisk360 is a methodology designed to systematically capture the range of government related risk factors at play in an Australian domestic context. It was developed by and launched by FPL Advisory, a regulatory affairs firm specialising in supporting corporate, public sector, non-profit and membership association clients in managing their interactions and activity with government.
Seed Mob, also known simply as Seed, is an Indigenous youth climate network in Australia.
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| National | |
