Farewells, our Members’ Forum and Happy Easter

Posted on 2 April 2015 by e-news

Switch on to our e-news! Switch off fossil power.

The next e-news will be published in mid-April, so get your contributions in to us then, by 11am.

We are looking for new staff at MASG because some of us are leaving, so check out our ads below and consider them – maybe you’re the person we need.

And have a safe, happy and wonderful Easter!

MASG Members’ Forum

Our Members’ Forum was a great success, with over 50 members attending to hear about our work, and a lively discussion following our presentations. Download the summary document Download the summary document here to read more about what was discussed.

If one thing came out clearly … maybe it’s volunteers! Many great plans were mooted, and MASG is generally supportive of projects such as the shire becoming plastic-bag-free, or supporting a refund scheme on bottles. While we support them, they are not our ‘core business’, and because our staff and funding is limited, we cannot devote resources to them. We would love to hear from active volunteers who are prepared to grab some of these projects and run with them.

As a volunteer organisation, we can’t be all things to all people. We seek to support other groups in the sustainability space where our resources don’t allow us to contribute.

The major focus of MASG is on Community Renewables with secondary focus on energy efficiency and waste. In all of these areas of interest, projects must be able to be pursued by volunteers through sub-committees or working groups, and be able to attract sufficient funds. Should paid staff be required, funding must be found to meet these costs.

Download the summary document.

Sign the Charter!

The Central Victoria Divestment Group, aligned with 350.org and with MASG has launched the Central Victorian Fossil fuel Free Charter, and need you to sign it.

Jump on to their website, read all about the charter, and sign it online here.

Anna’s leaving, Andrew’s leaving

Anna is an integral part of the MASG office, keeping general operations going, making sure the office runs smoothly, and running the Wash Against Waste Trailer as well as a bundle of other jobs.

Anna has been an integral part of the MASG office, keeping general operations going, making sure the office runs smoothly, and running the Wash Against Waste Trailer as well as a bundle of other jobs. She’s been the glue to we poor pieces of paper of sustainability. She is leaving to spend more time with family.

Andrew has been MASG’s Communications Officer. He has had a long career in newspapers, publishing and environmental advocacy, and is leaving to take up a newspaper position in New Zealand.

We are saying farewell this week to two of our stalwarts, Anna Hedigan and Andrew McKenna.

Hence … we are advertising their jobs!

Positions vacant at MASG

Do you have what it takes to work at MASG? Enthusiasm for environmental issues, working with a community group? Do you want to see real change in the world, starting with local change?

We have three part-time positions that may be right for you. Their deadlines are 10 April, so you still have time to apply.

You may have skills to suit more than one of these positions and should make it clear what you are applying for. We have funding for different periods for each but are working on further funding to extend each position. So there’s a strong future here.

You will be working alongside volunteers and will sometimes need to contribute time over and above your paid hours. You need to be motivated by and committed to the aims of a sustainable community.

Apply for a Position Description for each by contacting the MASG office on 5470 6978 or by emailing Mick Lewin. Closing date for all positions is 10 April 2015.

Wash Against Waste Trailer Coordinator

The WAWT Coordinator will manage the marketing and booking of the WAWT, which is offered to public events. It is currently hired out to 25-30 events per year and we hope to increase it to 40 or more. We have a number of trained operators and volunteers but that needs to be increased as well.

Currently we have funding for three months at half a day a week. We plan to seek funding to extend this period.

Officer Manager/Projects Coordinator

The Officer Manager / Project Coordinator Is a key role in the MASG. The position requires a person who can:
• Offer guidance to the MASG Committee of Management (COM) on governance matters
• Use excellent communications skills in dealing with members, volunteers, Committee of Management and the community
• Undertake office administration using skills that include familiarity with office software tools, the internet and social media
• And lots more!

This position has funding for one day a week and we will offer a six-month contract. We understand that the position can require more time than this if it is to be done to its optimum and further funding will be sought to expand it.

Communications Officer

The Communications Officer works with the MASG staff and with the project Working Groups to develop and maintain relationships in the community, with stakeholders and supporters. The CO will support MASG projects and specifically support the Community Renewables projects, presenting their activities to the community.

The Communications officer acts as a focus for the collection of stories supporting our goals and will ensure they are made available to the public and membership through the media and through the MASG e-News newsletter, the web and social media. This position is currently funded for six months at one day a week.

Slacktivism

Climate action with your mouse

Stand up as a solar citizen

Solar Citizens around the country keep telling us that they’re sick of being taken for granted.

Solar householders are doing what’s sensible and generating clean energy that brings down power bills, so why is solar and renewable energy facing attack after attack? It just doesn’t make sense.

It’s time for us to put a stop to it. Take the new pledge to Stand Up For Solar to help build a force for a strong solar future that won’t be ignored, no matter who is running the country.

Indigenous people say no to Galilee Basin mines – join them!

My name is Adrian Burragubba, and I’m a proud Traditional Owner of Wangan and Jagalingou country in central Queensland. You might know the area better as the Galilee Basin, where Adani wants to build one of the biggest coal mines in the world.

My people have formally rejected an Indigenous Land Use Agreement with Adani to build the Carmichael coal mine on our land. I’m asking you and all people to join us in our fight.

We are gravely concerned about Adani and the Queensland Government’s desperate attempts to open up the Carmichael mine on Wangan and Jagalingou country. Our traditional lands are an interconnected and living whole; a vital cultural landscape. It is central to us as a People, and to the maintenance of our identity, laws and consequent rights.

If the Carmichael mine proceeds it will tear the heart out of our country. The scale of this mine means it would have devastating impacts on our native title, ancestral lands and waters, our totemic plants and animals, and our environmental and cultural heritage.

Our land will be “disappeared”.

I’m asking you to stand with my people as we fight Adani. Please sign our petition here: https://www.communityrun.org/p/stopadani

We know our battle is a hard one. It is not just the multi-billion dollar might of Adani that my people are up against. Both the former LNP Queensland Government and Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved Adani’s mine through the regulatory process.

When we say No, we mean No. It’s time Adani learned.

Last word

“It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message—spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions—telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet.”
? Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

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