Our Background
We have both been concerned for preserving the environment since the 1970s. However, it wasn’t until Leeanne dragged me along to a Greenpeace information session at Eastlakes in June, 2006, about a proposed new open cut coalmine at Anvil Hill, in the Hunter Valley, that we were awakened to the catastrophe approaching humanity and our planet in the form of global warming. We formed Maroubra Climate Action (MaCA) with some other folks who attended that meeting. This began our journey into learning about and understanding climate change and global warming and how we can work towards a positive solution.
We were heavily involved in the 2007 Australian general election, working with a fledging, non-politically aligned, progressive group called GetUp! that campaigned for action on climate. We helped out on the 2007 Walk Against Warming that saw nearly 100,000 people march in capital cities across Australia for government action against global warming. The promises of the ALP gave us heart when they took power but, since then, we have been soundly disappointed at the lack of implementation, indeed regression, shown by them.