Australian Environment Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Australian Environment Foundation is a not-for-profit advocacy organisation. It differs from many other such groups because it accepts most traditional human activities in the environment, such as farming and forestry, seeking to combine these with an enhanced concern for nature. It has disputed the values of some mainstream environmental assertions, and also on occasion the evidence used to support those assertions.
Membership of the AEF is available only to individuals, and all states are represented in the membership. Compared with many other environmental groups, members are more likely to live and work outside of major cities.
Core values of the AEF include:
• Evidence - policies are set and decisions are made on the basis of facts, evidence and scientific analysis.
• Choice - issues are prioritized on the basis of accurate risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis.
• Diversity - biological diversity is maintained.
• People - people are an integral part of the environment.
. It was formally launched on World Environment Day (5 June 2005) in the northern New South Wales town of Tenterfield. "This new group will be vastly different to the established environment organisations that have had the ear of governments for some time. The AEF’s focus will be on making decisions based on science and what is good for both the environment and for people," the group stated in its press release.http://www.aefweb.info/media770.html The founding chairman was former Labor federal environment minister, Barry Cohen AM. A subsequent chairman was gardener, author and television presenter Don Burke.
The group's formation attracted criticism from more left-wing environmental groups. They pointed to the fact members of the pro-forestry group Timber Communities Australia were involved in the group, and one of the founders, biologist Dr Jennifer Marohasy, worked for the Institute of Public Affairs. Reporting on the AEF's launch, the Melbourne broadsheet newspaper, 'The Age' wrote: "Dr Marohasy said she acted as the group's leader as an individual and not part of the IPA." http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Cool-reception-for-new-green-group/2005/06/07/1118123837470.html
The launch was covered on the conservative ABC Radio National program ‘Counterpoint
’ on 6 June. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/counterpoint/default.htm
Membership of the AEF is available only to individuals, and all states are represented in the membership. Compared with many other environmental groups, members are more likely to live and work outside of major cities.
Core values of the AEF include:
• Evidence - policies are set and decisions are made on the basis of facts, evidence and scientific analysis.
• Choice - issues are prioritized on the basis of accurate risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis.
• Diversity - biological diversity is maintained.
• People - people are an integral part of the environment.
History
The formation of the AEF was first mooted at 'The Institute of Public Affairs Eureka Forum' organised in December 2004 by the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public AffairsInstitute of Public Affairs
The Institute of Public Affairs is a public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation and deregulated workplaces, climate change skepticism , and the...
. It was formally launched on World Environment Day (5 June 2005) in the northern New South Wales town of Tenterfield. "This new group will be vastly different to the established environment organisations that have had the ear of governments for some time. The AEF’s focus will be on making decisions based on science and what is good for both the environment and for people," the group stated in its press release.http://www.aefweb.info/media770.html The founding chairman was former Labor federal environment minister, Barry Cohen AM. A subsequent chairman was gardener, author and television presenter Don Burke.
The group's formation attracted criticism from more left-wing environmental groups. They pointed to the fact members of the pro-forestry group Timber Communities Australia were involved in the group, and one of the founders, biologist Dr Jennifer Marohasy, worked for the Institute of Public Affairs. Reporting on the AEF's launch, the Melbourne broadsheet newspaper, 'The Age' wrote: "Dr Marohasy said she acted as the group's leader as an individual and not part of the IPA." http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Cool-reception-for-new-green-group/2005/06/07/1118123837470.html
The launch was covered on the conservative ABC Radio National program ‘Counterpoint
Counterpoint (Radio National)
Counterpoint is an Australian weekly radio program, presented by Michael Duffy and Paul Comrie-Thomson and broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National.-Programming:...
’ on 6 June. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/counterpoint/default.htm
Directors
- Max Rheese, Executive Director
- Peter Ridd, Board Member
- George Snow, Board Member
- Alexander Stuart, Chairman
- Helen Mahar, Secretary & Treasurer
- Tom Bostock, Board Member
Former Directors
- Barry CohenBarry CohenBarry Cohen AM is a former Australian Labor politician. He was a minister in the government of Bob Hawke.-Biography:He was born in Griffith, New South Wales and educated at Griffith High School, Sydney Grammar School and North Sydney Technical High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the...
Inaugural Chairman of AEF, former ALPAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Environment Minister - Don BurkeDon BurkeDonald William "Don" Burke OAM is an Australian television personality and author. He is best known as the long time host of Burke's Backyard, a lifestyle program which ran for 17 years from 1987 to late 2004 on the Nine Network. It has returned several times over recent years with a number of...
OAM former Chairman
AEF Media Releases
- Australian Environment Foundation, "World Environment Day Launches New Environment Group in Tenterfield", Media Release, 2 June 2005.
- Don Burke, "Nuclear Energy Only One Option Says Environment Group", Media Release, 11 July 2006.
- Australian Environment Foundation, Government finally acts on environmental water Media Release 27 February 2008
General Articles
- "Environment launch", Tenterfield Star, 2 June 2005.
- "Putting People First", Counterpoint, ABC Radio National, 6 June 2005. (This link is to a Real Player file. The link to Windows Media Player is here.)
- "People unite to deliver 'real' environment message", The Northern Daily Leader, 8 June 2005.
- Melissa Fyfe, "Cool reception for new green group", The Age, 8 June 2005.
- Liz Minchin, "Garden guru tips a bucket on greenies", The Age, 26 July 2005.
- "Environment group AEF honours Gunns", ABC News, 29 September 2006.
- Jewel Topsfield, "Push grows for Top End cotton", The Age, 9 March 2007.
- "Woody weeds out of control: veg laws blasted", North Queensland Register, 30 August 2007.
- Leslie CannoldLeslie CannoldLeslie Cannold, PhD, is an author, academic ethicist, columnist, activist, and high-profile Australian public intellectual....
, "It matters who you are, and where you come from", The Age,14 November 2006. - Lauren Caulfield, "Burke's Backyard: the new face of greenwashing in Australia", Chain Reaction, Friends of the Earth (Australia), December 2007.