Earth Matters

Exploring Extreme Heat: Part One Hot histories - can heatwaves of the past teach us how to adapt to extreme heat? Earth Matters is embarking on a multi-episode series exploring what intense heat events mean for Australians.  We’ll be hearing from settler Australians, migrant communities and First Nations people living in different parts of so-called Australia to understand how heat affects us, and whether current adaptation practices are sufficient to equip us for a hotter future. In Part One we delve into the near past to discover how Australians of European background lived through heatwaves in the 19th and 20thcenturies, and what their experiences mean for Australians today.  We hear from settler Australian environmental historians Rochelle Schoff and Mandy Paul who spoke at a History Council of Victoria Making Publc Histories event last year. The event was convened by Margaret Anderson, manager of the Old Treasury Building in Naarm/Melbourne. Rochelle Schoff is a La Trobe University PhD Candidate and member of the Parched research project team. Mandy Paul is a public historian researching the history of heatwaves in Tarntanya/Adelaide and Head of Collections at the History Trust of South Australia. Historian Rebecca Jones was the third speaker at this event. Her research will be shared in a later episode.  Thanks to the History Council of Victoria for providing access to the recording of Making Public Histories—Thinking about the weather: Heatwaves and history in twentieth century Australia event held on 27 November 2025. You can watch the full event here. Note: Statements made by Anangu community members shared by Rochelle Schoff were sourced from the following research paper, Bardsley, D. K., & Wiseman, N. D. (2016). Socio-ecological lessons for the Anthropocene: Learning from the remote Indigenous communities of Central Australia. Anthropocene, 14, 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2016.04.001   Image Credit: State Library of South Australia, B 7798/298.

In this edition of Earth Matters, host Keiran Stewart-Assheton interviews Matt from the pirate nursery Basalt Buddies, discussing the Victorian Grassland Plains, local conservation efforts, the limitations and unseen issues within government conservation policies, and how people can get involved in conservation efforts in their local area.

As with all other areas of Direct Activism for social and environmental justice, some of the most staunch, courageous and passionate forest defenders are women. At the Lutruwita Forest Resistance Tour last month Hannah and Rosie were fortunate to meet and work alongside many of them, who ranged from teenagers to 80 year-olds. They spoke to two of these incredible women - Jenny Weber (Bob Brown Foundation Campaign Manager), and Colette Harmsen (scientist and veterinarian), and look forward to introducing them to listeners on Earth Matters' International Women's day program.Join the March for Forests on Sunday 22 March.

Mia speaks with two poets about their recent books, both of which chronicle relationship-building with the more-than-human world. Eungedup is a work of poetry and narrative non-fiction recounting Giles Watson's relationship with a freshwater wetland during a long, dry summer. Vampire Squid is a close and personal account of the deep sea and the people who study it, written throughout Dr Prema Arasu's time working at the UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre.Giles Watson is a writer and teacher of English and Drama who lives in Albany/Kinjarling, WA. Eungedup: A Wetland Summer Diary chronicles his quest to gain a sense of belonging in his new home.   Prema Arasu is a writer and academic at the Deep-Sea Research Centre at the University of Western Australia. Their research utilises transdisciplinary and creative methods to investigate the aesthetics of the deep sea. Vampire Squid examines the relationship between humans and the deep sea as the poet places their colleagues under the microscope, drawing attention not only to the teeming suboceanic life, but the distinctive ways that oceanographer, geoscientist, taxonomist, marine biologist and geneticist each interpret the same world through different eyes. https://fremantlepress.com.au/books/eungedup/https://fremantlepress.com.au/books/vampire-squid/ https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast  Earth Matters #1545 was produced by Mia Audrey on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country.

A jubilant senior cultural custodian, Adrian Burragubba makes the first announcement of a landmark decision handed down in the Queensland Court of Appeal, restoring the case to protect the sacred Doongmabulla springs from Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.Adrian's son Guridyula describes the reoccupation of his traditional land on the mine site at Waddananggu.Then an introduction to The South Coast Action Network: a new grassroots community collective whose purpose is to empower individuals and communities to take direct, creative action against oppressive systems that fail people and the environment.  Music:Now! Not tomorrow! You're Needed Now is Dallas de Brabander’s call to come and join us in the streets and swell the numbers demanding action against coal-fired climate change. With EcopellaCD: Your Needed Now PROTECT SACRED WATER | Chuffed | Non-profit charity and social enterprise fundraisingDonations will be used for legal fees and related expenses incurred by Wangan and Jagalingou Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians. (19) Facebook  Wangan and Jagalingou - Standing Our GroundNational Forest rallies: https://marchforforests.org/Native Forest Declaration South Coast Action NetworkLandmark victory restores Doongmabulla Springs case... | National Indigenous Times

Helena Norberg-Hodge is a pioneer of the new economy movement, a filmmaker, author and founding director of Local Futures, which is committed to the revitalisation of cultural and biological diversity and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide. Helena has just turned 80 years old. Helena argues for a radical shift from destructive global capitalism and unchecked technological advancement, including AI and urbanisation, towards a model of 'localisation' that emphasises reconnecting humans with nature and community, fostering happiness, self-reliance, and ecological healing.Website Building Economics of Happiness | Helena Norberg-Hodge Event link Panel Talk: Ancient Futures & The Religion of Economics — Marrickville Golf, Sporting & Community Club.Thankyou to Regen Sydney, Cooks River Alliance and Local Futures.                      Earth Matters #  1543  was produced by Bec Horridge

Mia chats with the folks behind A Climate for Art and Creative Climate, initiatives driving climate conversations and action in the arts and cultural sector. Eliki Reade is an Interdependent Producer and artist of kailoma-Fijian (Fijian/European) heritage. They are a co-instigator of A Climate for Art (ACFA), a collective of artists, arts workers and organisations intent on mobilising their sector for climate action. Lana Nguyen is an independent curator, cultural organiser and producer on projects that stem from the politics of place. She is a co-instigator of A Climate for Art (ACFA). Angharad Wynne-Jones is Cymry (Welsh) Australian and lives on the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation in Narrm (Melbourne). She is currently leading Creative Climate  - funded by Creative Australia, is the new national peak body for arts and climate providing leadership, connections, advocacy and access to high-quality resources that support artists, arts workers and arts and cultural organisations and their funders to transition from a carbon economy and adapt to the impacts of climate change. https://www.aclimateforart.com.au/https://www.creativeclimate.org.au/ Earth Matters #1542 was produced by Mia Audrey on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country.

Earth Matters brings you Voices from "Rising Tide" protest blocking coal ships in Moolobinba/Newcastle, highlighting youth climate anxiety, calls for government accountability, and the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and Indigenous justice issues in Australia.We will hear from:Grace Goldman from Youth Rising expressed deep fear for her future and her hometown, Newcastle, due to government inaction on climate change. -Interviewed by Vivian LangfordDaisy Nutty emphasises the interconnected systems; the fossil fuel industry is intertwined with the military-industrial complex, capitalism, the housing crisis, and weapons trafficking, all driven by a "bunch of billionaires." Member; “Older, Bolder and Stopping CoalEarth Matters  #1541was made in Muloobinba  on Awabakal country by Bec Horridge and Vivian Langford

This Invasion Day, Earth Matters confronts the truth behind January 26 — not as a celebration, but as the beginning of invasion and ecological destruction.From colonisation as an environmental catastrophe to the climate crisis as a colonial crisis, this special episode centres First Nations sovereignty, Land Back, and the reality that there is no environmental justice without decolonisation. Because the future is either decolonial — or unliveable.

‘Aboriginal people in Western Australia experience the highest rates of death from mesothelioma globally. That’s because of Wittenoom. And there isn’t a Banjima family who isn’t touched by this. This is really a huge human rights issue.’‘We went pretty deep into where the main tailings dumps are. We have this drone shot that goes for five minutes…It shows the tailings dumps going for like hundreds of metres and that is not a perspective many people will ever see, unless they’re flying over that site in a chopper.’Yurlu | Country director, Yaara Bou Melhem Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Warning: This episode of Earth Matters contains the name of a person who has died.The recently released documentary Yurlu | Country shines new light on the Wittenoom asbestos mine catastrophe. Centring the experience of former Karijini Park ranger Banjima elder Maitland Parker, it shows the impacts of asbestos include not only lost lives and environmental damage but the cultural loss traditional owners have suffered as a result of diminished access to their Country.Guest: Yurlu | Country writer/director/producer Yaara Bou MelhemDocumentary website: https://yurlucountry.comDetails on how to watch and share Yurlu |Country PLUS the Clean Up Wittenoom campaign: https://yurlucountry.com/take-action/For information on asbestos-related disease: https://asbestosdiseases.org.au/information/wittenoom-overview/https://www.asbestos.com/blog/2019/03/19/asbestos-problem-australian-aboriginals/Episode #1539: Producer/presenter: Claudia Craig | Interviewer: Annie McLoughlin This interview was first aired on 3CR’s Showreel on November 6th 2025. Listen to the full interview here. A huge thanks to Annie McLoughlin for sharing this interview with us.Photo credit: Illuminate Films