Happy new year and welcome to the first edition of Paperbark for 2017.  We hope you had a refreshing break and are well-rested for the year ahead. We have a few good news stories below as well as some exciting events coming up in the months ahead.

We have big plans for 2017, and are happy to announce a new team member has come on board in making our plans a reality! Welcome to Tyler Peirce who has taken on the role of Community Campaigner.

Several campaigns we are involved in will reach critical points, and it is also very likely that this will be an election year.

Another busy month at NQCC! November will be another eventful month, with Maree attending the Environment Roundtables with other Queensland enviro groups, NQCC hosting an intern, and our unmissable trivia night on the 19th – don’t forget to purchase your tickets!

In this issue: Townsville Port expansion – radioactive contamination at Ben Lomond – Adani ‘critical infrastructure’ – Hell’s Gate Dam forum wrap-up – fisheries reform – Marine Park review – Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement – NQCC’s trivia night – EOI for 2017 postcard exhibition.

Paperbark is a monthly e-update of NQCC activities, campaigns, news and events.

Welcome to this month’s issue of Paperbark. We’d like to welcome a new staffer to the NQCC community – Jacob Miller. In the role of community campaigner, Jacob will be organising some big events coming up this year, producing media and written content on our site and improving NQCC’s community outreach. Welcome Jacob!

In this issue: Proposed funding cuts to ARENA – ACF loses court case to Adani – Queenslands climate change action policy – Toxic lead dust from Townsville port – Burdekin Dry Tropics Regional NRM published – Interactive sea level rise modelling launched – Upcoming events – General notices.

Welcome to this month’s Paperbark! It has been a busy month of planning events and making submissions about various conservation issues being reviewed. Just a reminder: if you were a member in 2015/2016, you have until 5 September until your membership officially lapses. Click here to renew your membership.

In this issue: Protecting our wildlife – Vegetation Management laws – Climate Change Policy – Upcoming Events – General Notices.

Welcome to the July edition of Paperbark! At the time of writing, the dust is still settling from the Federal Election. We know that the Liberal National coalition will continue, the seat of Herbert is still undecided, and it will be weeks before the final make-up of the Senate is confirmed. In this issue: Election wrap – Plastic Free July – Coal Dust – Butterfly trip to Maggie – Citizen science bird study

Election Wrap-Up

The future for climate campaigning at a Federal politics level is uncertain. Although some of the worst blockers in the last Parliament have exited, many voters rejected the major parties and voted for populist minor parties, such as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

This is not good news for action on climate change. A Parliament under the influence of right-wing climate action blockers, puppeteered by the coal and gas industry, is going to make the fight for climate justice much more difficult.

Welcome to the June edition of Paperbark. With an election approaching, there has been a flurry of activity at the NQCC office. In this issue: AMCS – membership – Election forums for Herbert and Dawson – Great Barrier Beer – Wendy’s launch party – Golf course watering – Letters to the Bulletin – Vegetation Management – Election scorecards – Cash for containers – National Parks win – Emu research

Welcome to the May edition of Paperbark!

With a new month comes a new acting coordinator. I, Maree, would like to thank Wendy Tubman for her enormous contributions to NQCC over the past years in the position of coordinator. Filling her role is a responsibility I’m not taking lightly and I am diving straight into continuing the good work of NQCC as the voice for the environment.

In this issue: Pollution Free Politics, Vegetation Management, two movie screenings, Eco-Fiesta, a solar farm for Townsville, Adani in court, government attacks environmental groups, Coastcare and more.

In this issue: Welcome back; Feeling the heat; NQCC News in brief; Carmichael Mine; Contaminated dust deposition; Water issues; A GLOBAL agreement on climate change – Paris December 2015; Divestment – Westpac commitment, Market Forces ‘Burned’ Report; improved SuperSwitch; Decarbonisation – Inspiration for Action; Earth Hour; Townsville Against Live Export; Turning clicktivists into real-world activists; Diary Dates.

Welcome back
It seems crazy to be wishing people a happy new year when we are over a 10th of the way through 2016 – but we do hope that the year ahead will be a good one for you and yours.

Paperbark is a monthly e-letter of current NQCC activities, campaigns, news and events

The Paris agreement

The people marched, leaders and the world’s powerful converged on Paris, and an agreement was reached. Better than past outcomes? Definitely. Sufficient to address the problem? Unfortunately not.

As George Monbiot wrote in the Guardian, ‘… the Paris agreement is full of soft facts: promises that can slip or unravel. Until governments undertake to keep fossil fuels in the ground, they will continue to undermine the agreement they have just made.’

Paperbark is a monthly communique of current NQCC activities, campaigns, news and events.

Hoping that you find the information provided here informative and actionable! There’s a lot on, not least the Climate Marches well over 2000 of which are being held around the world in advance of the UN Climate Summit in Paris in early December. Look forward to being inspired by the power of the people making a stand, marching, being creative and taking action for our environment and a better, safer and fairer future for all.