The South Melbourne Commons community hub will celebrate its official opening on Saturday 10th December 2011 from 10am-4pm. Please come along if you're in Melbourne!

The South Melbourne Commons is a joint initiative of the Friends of the Earth and Father Bob Maguire Foundation, our vision encapsulates the dynamic social and environmental qualities of both organisations.

The Commons is located on the corner of Bank and Montague St, South Melbourne right next door to the St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church where Father Bob Maguire resides.

www.commons.org.au

Hundreds of farmers in southeast Queensland have vowed to lock their gates to keep coal and gas explorers at bay. Representatives of eight farmers' and residents' organisations joined Friends of the Earth outside the Queensland parliament on Monday to launch the Lock the Gate campaign. They are opposed to miners' plans for up to 40,000 coal seam gas (CSG) wells and massive new coal mines on the rich agricultural lands of the Darling Downs.

Hundreds of farmers in southeast Queensland have vowed to lock their gates to keep coal and gas explorers at bay. Representatives of eight farmers' and residents' organisations joined Friends of the Earth outside the Queensland parliament on Monday to launch the Lock the Gate campaign. They are opposed to miners' plans for up to 40,000 coal seam gas (CSG) wells and massive new coal mines on the rich agricultural lands of the Darling Downs. The farmers say that in the short term, mining companies, protected by state legislation, have extraordinary rights to enter land for exploration and mining, disrupting farm operations. In the longer term, the mining could irreparably harm underground aquifers and degrade land forever.

Friends of the Earth and a broad alliance of environment groups have today submitted concerns in response to the Queensland Government discussion paper "Strategic Cropping Land: policy and planning framework".

Friends of the Earth spokesperson Bradley Smith says that while the groups are hopeful, the proposed framework currently falls far short of protecting good quality agricultural farmland from coal mining.

“It is a monumental step forward that some of Queensland could finally be protected from coal mining and that some coal will stay in the ground, where it cannot damage our climate,” said Mr Smith.

The expanding coal industry has been invading some of Queensland's best food producing land, and farming community groups have been fighting to stay on the land. Help them by making a submission today!

Now, after over a year of campaigning by Friends of the Earth Brisbane's coal campaign, Six Degrees, the Queensland Government has announced they will change the legislation to protect good quality farmland from destructive mining expansion, and are welcoming comments on their discussion paper.

Please add your support to the creation of strong and broad protection to give certainty to landholders. The alternative is a weak policy riddled with loopholes, which is exactly what the coal industry will be lobbying for.

You can use the form on the campaign website to make a submission which will go straight to the Government. Feel free to use the example text provided, or to customise your own submission. For more information, go to the Government website here.