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Australian Environment Foundation

 

AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENT FOUNDATION (AEF)
www.aefweb.info

On World Environment Day the Australian Environment Foundation (AEF) was launched. AEF have been established by the Institute of Public Affairs, a conservative right wing think-tank. Its formation was announced at the Timber Communities Australia conference in Tasmania, attended by Prime Minister John Howard. AEF launch statement:

‘The Australian Environment Foundation is a not-for-profit, membership-based environmental organization, having no political affiliation. The great majority of Australians believe themselves to be environmentalists but have little or no say in the environmental policies being put to governments. These policies are almost exclusively the domain of a tight network of conservation groups ensuring one view, and one view only, is put forward.....Many of the organisations foundation members are practical environmentalists – people who actively use and care for the environment.’ (AEF media release 2 June 2005)

The AEF team are:

Spokesperson
Kersten Gentle
Is the Victorian State Manager for Timber Communities Australia

Director
Leon Ashby
In 2002 he was Convenor of Landholders for the Environment and is a dairy farmer in South Australia. Leon was the organiser of two rallies held in 2001 at Roma and Winton that attracted more than 1000 landholders protesting against the implementation of Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act. He is President of ‘Bushvision’ (www.bushvision.com). Here’s a letter to the Editor of News Weekly (8th Feb 2003) from Leon Ashby addressing Ntional Park management:

“While early burning is one option, I want to raise another and that is by allowing cattle to graze our parks. They recycle the grasses into dung which assists with maintaining soil fertility and ultimately biodiversity in the soil. Plants also become healthier when grazed for short durations (much like pruning improves trees and bushes). With correct grazing management national parks could require very little early burning (which rarely gets done, even if it's written in the parks management plan) ... and it would raise a bit of revenue as well. Despite it being commonsense that our more brittle environments need grazers to keep the carbon (vegetable matter) cycling properly, our parks are becoming fire bombs and gradually less fertile due to the unscientific and nonsensical approach our government departments adhere to.” Leon Ashby - Landholders for the Environment Kongorong, SA

Events Coordinator
Bronwyn Petrie
In 2003 she was a NSW Farmers Association executive council member. Listed as the NSW NAFI contact for the 1998 NAFI-sponsored tour by Patrick Moore. She supported the Timbarra Gold mine and actively campaigned against the local environmental activities.

Science Coordinator
Peter Ridd
He is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Physical Sciences,
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, James Cook University.

Another person involved in the AEF launch…
Tim Petrie
Is an 18-year old Teneterfield resident. Tim Petrie dedicated a huge blue gum tree which measures seven feet wide and over 100 feet high to commemorate the occasion. “Our family properties have a long history of grazing, logging and management burning. We have demonstrated for generations that land management is not restricted to a choice between production and conservation. Clearly we can have both . . . It is with great pleasure that on behalf of my family I dedicate this tree to commemorate the official launch of the Australian Environment Foundation” said Tim. (AEF media release 5 June 2005).

AEF campaigns include:
1. Environmental Education & Our Children
Goal: Ensure Science underpins environmental education nationally.

2. Saving our National Parks
Goal: Ensure that existing National Parks and Conservation Reserves are managed in a way that meets appropriate environmental goals, including maintaining biodiversity.

3. Saving Endangered Species: Paper Targets or Real Outcomes
Goal: Ensure adequate resourcing for the identification and protection of truly endangered species, as opposed to the current situation which favours blanket listings.

4. The Murray River: An Aussie Icon
Goal: Use the beauty of the Murray River to draw attention to the magnificence and resilience of the Australian Environment.

5. Controlling Feral Animals & Weeds
Goal: Identify cost-effective mechanisms for achieving real reductions in the impact of feral animals and weeds.

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