Queensland Premier Anna Bligh was been booed and jeered by hundreds of protesters outside a community forum in the state's south-east over the weekend. Ms Bligh and her ministers were in the seaside town of Hervey Bay for a two-day community Cabinet meeting. She was greeted by angry protesters who were rallying against her Government's plan to build a dam on the Mary River. The campaign to Save The Mary River has grown from the inital response coordinated by Mary Valley residents fighting for the future of their river and community to a broad-based national and international response. Save Mary River

Ross Garnaut, the Rudd government's climate advisor, has delivered his interim report on climate emission reduction mechanisms, but the bigger policy questions remain unanswered. The report outlines proposals for a carbon emissions trading scheme, perhaps better described as a cap-and-auction scheme, in which the government sets a declining cap on carbon emissions, with permits to pollute allocated by way of auction. Professor Garnaut will be hosting public forums from 7 to 11 July 2008 in cities around Australia for discussions with the community on the Draft Report. He will be at the Paddinton Town Hall 10 July at 10am. Garnaut Review

On Friday 4 July, Tasmanian forest activists peacefully occupied Peter Garrett's Maroubra office. Activists scaled the exterior of Minister Garrett's 6 storey office building to hang a banner reading 'The Australian Government is Destroying Tasmania's Old Growth Forests' and a 5 metre high 'Giant Garrett' puppet. "Activists from Southern Tasmanian conservation groups the Huon Valley Environment Centre and Still Wild, Still Threatened have travelled to Sydney to highlight the destruction of Tasmania's rapidly disappearing wild places. The Australian Government have consistently ignored community outrage at the ceaseless decimation of Tasmania's old growth forests," said Still Wild, Still Threatened spokesperson Ula Majewski. HVEC

Greenpeace has announced their ship the Esperanza will be visiting the East Coast of Australia over the next six weeks highlighting the need for a transition away from coal to clean renewable energy. The voyage will highlight the Greenpeace report - Blueprint for an energy [r]evolution, released on June 16, 2008. The report details how coal-fired electricity can be completely phased out in Australia by 2030 by harnessing the country’s renewable energy resources - just a matter of political will by Federal and State Governments. Indymedia

Come to Climate camp in the Hunter Valley NSW 10 - 15 of July. We invite you, your friends and family to participate in the Camp for Climate Action! Registration Now Open. The Camp will be an inspiring five days of workshops and grassroots direct action aimed at stopping the expansion of the world's biggest coal port in Newcastle. The Australian camp is one of seven being held around the world in July and early August 2008. Camp Climate Action

Following a 12-day cull of kangaroos on Maria Island in which 400 animals were killed to reduce their population, there has been a call by a Tasmanian veterinary pathologist for reviews in the way in which the cull is carried out. Many of the culled kangaroos had been shot in the body instead of the head, which could have resulted in a slow and painful death, and some of the dead kangaroos still had live joeys in their pouches. Both these findings show breaches in State and national guidelines. ecomedia

Whale spotting season has begun. Each year the Humpback whales migrate along the east coast of New South Whales. From May to early December they and other whale species are swimming past the Sydney coastline as they head north to mate and give birth and then back south to their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica. In 2007 well over 8000 humpbacks made the journey north, this number is growing each year as the population recovers from years of over hunting in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was estimated that at the beginning of the moratorium (1986,IWC) on hunting whales, that there were only 300 to 400 Humpbacks left on the east coast migration. While it is unknown exactly what the pre-whaling population of the group of Humpbacks was, estimates range from 30,000 to 80,000. To learn more about whale spotting this season visit
Whale Festival