2020 was another very active year for DCAN - even during an extended COVID19 lockdown! While many of our activities moved online we were still able to pack in alot. This included distributing Climate Emergency house signs and booklets, meeting with our State and Federal politicians, producing a scorecard for the Council elections and helping to run a Candidates' Forum, running seven webinars, submitting submissions to several Government inquiries, writing powerful letters to the major newspapers and supporting our young school strikers. Click here to see the highlights with pics and here for a more detailed description. Excited by what you read? Contact us at [email protected] to see how you can be part of the action.

DCAN congratulates the newly elected Darebin Council. We are especially pleased that all of the successful candidates either signed or reaffirmed their support for the declaration of a climate emergency. DCAN looks forward to supporting Darebin Council in taking strong action on climate over the next four years and beyond.

Central Ward

North Central

North East Ward

North West Ward

South Central

South East Ward

South Ward

South West Ward

West Ward

Here is a tiny snapshot of some of the great actions that took place in Darebin in support of the #SchoolStrike4Climate global day of action. Supporters took their signs along to their local school and took selfies.

Also great to see our young student leaders meeting with three of our local Federal and State politicians - Ged Kearney (Member for Cooper), Kat Theophanous (Member for Northcote) and Robin Scott (Member for Preston) to spell out their expectations for urgent action on the climate emergency. 

(Photo from Ged Kearney Facebook page)

On Friday 25th September, School Strike 4 Climate are hosting hundreds of activities around Australia for the ‘Fund Our Future Not Gas’ day of action. DCAN has joined with local school students to arrange four local events. We would love you to join us and also invite along any young people in your life. 

Join us for a webinar with local school kids - 25 September 10.30am

Join us and local School Strikers in an online webinar to find out how we can support them in their fight for a better future. With a Federal Government determined to invest in a gas fueled recovery, there has never been a more important time for us to campaign for a recovery based on renewables. We will also hear from Jeff Nottle, President of the Phillip Island Conservation Society about the proposed mega gas project in Westernport Bay and the community campaign to stop it.  RSVP here to receive the zoom link. 

School Strikers meeting with Ged Kearney - 25th September 11.30am 

Local School Strikers are inviting young people to join them in an online meeting with Federal MP Ged Kearney. If you know a young person living in the Cooper electorate who would like to share their views on the climate emergency with Ged please email Katia.

Make your words count through powerful letter writing  - 2nd October 10.30am

Please join us and special guest, Fiona Ivits, to learn the tricks of the trade in getting the attention of our politicians and leaders through powerful letter writing. Fiona is the senior media advisor at the Climate Council and has worked extensively with local government leaders, grassroots organisations and key influencers across many different types of communication. Don't miss out on this opportunity to pick up some red hot tips from an expert! RSVP here to receive the zoom link.

Take a selfie!

Next time you take your daily exercise, why not walk by your local school with a handmade sign in tow. (Don't forget your mask) Send a photo to us at [email protected] and with your permission we will post it on the DCAN Facebook page, send it to local politicians and the School Strike 4 Climate team for the global day of action on the 25th September.

The ABC’s new series Fight for Planet A – Our Climate Challenge is an entertaining, informative and empowering three part series packed with stunts, stats, tools and tips about how we can ALL be part of tackling the climate challenge. 

Darebin Climate Action Now is proud to partner with Darebin Council to cohost a series of discussions on the Wednesday following each episode (starting August 12th). To join the conversation please register here.

Feel inspired to take action? Here are a few tips to get you on your way.

DCAN has called on the Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews to suspend the implementation of single member wards under the Local Government Act following recent revelations about the conduct of the former minister for Local Government, Mr Adem Somyurek. DCAN believes that the former Minister's reported behaviour has undermined the trust that Victorians can place in the changes made to the Victorian Government Electoral Act under his watch.

Controversy broke out when the former Minister first unveiled plans to move nearly all of the State’s councils to a single member ward system. This was against the advice of the independent Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). In addition, the Municipal Association of Victoria, two thirds of Victorian Councils, local government women’s advocates and members of the minister’s own mayoral advisory panel were against the changes. There is ample evidence that single member wards discourage independents, women and minority candidates from running in "winner-takes-all contests".

In Darebin we have seen the consequences of one Party dominating the Council for many years, ending up in allegations of corruption and several years of administration. The VEC’s scathing commission of inquiry into the dysfunctional Geelong City Council found single councillor wards “had the effect of undermining good governance”. They compromised decision making by “trading off decisions for the common good in favour of ward interests” and distorted resource allocation and “rational priorities”.

DCAN fully supports Darebin's independent Mayor, Councillor Susan Rennie in calling for a reconsideration of the single-member ward system. We want to see a vibrant, independent Darebin Council with a diversity of representatives from the community. We call on the Premier to give us confidence in our democratic processes by suspending the changes until a full review has taken place.

Please join our campaign by emailing your concerns to the Premier: [email protected], the Minister for Local Government: [email protected] and local State Members of Parliament.

Very soon it may be too late to avoid the risk of runaway climate change and its devastating consequences. This report from Breakthrough explains what a climate emergency is. It looks at the evidence about the scale, timing and urgency of the risk and concludes that we must act now.