Earth Matters

Bec Horridge, Claudia Craig, Mia Audrey & Keiran Stewart-Assheton.

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Local and global environmental issues from grassroots, activist perspectives with a strong social justice focus. Distributed nationally on the Community Radio Network.

13H AGO

"Ancient Futures" with Helena Norberg-Hodge. (with transcript).

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
FEB 8

Arts and the Climate Part 2

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.
FEB 1

Hear the rapturous cheers when Rising Tide coal port blockade succeeds in stopping coal ships.

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
JAN 25

Invasion Day - Colonialism and Climate Collapse

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.
JAN 18

Yurlu |Country: Wittenoom asbestos documentary tells Banjima elder’s cultural story

‘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
JAN 11

A Climate for Art

The climate crisis is a crisis of imagination; we are stuck in a web of stories about what’s possible. But voices outside the web are picking at the knots, opening other ways of being through different, older stories. This is the work of artists. And while you may not know it from how your tax dollars are spent, artists are a lifeline for our world in crisis. Enter A Climate for Art (ACFA): a collective of artists, arts workers and organisations intent on mobilising their sector for climate action. This show features two recordings from a Symposium hosted by ACFA—in partnership with Next Wave, City of Melbourne, George Paton Gallery and Climate Action Network Australia—which together give a glimpse of how our biggest imaginations are responding to the climate crisis.Zena Cumpston is a Barkandji woman with Afghan, Irish and English heritage. Zena works as an artist, writer, researcher, curator and consultant and currently resides in Narrm/melbourne. Dr. Jacina Leong 梁玉明 is an artist-curator, educator and researcher whose practice engages with the intersections of community engagement, care ethics and curatorial inquiry. Currently living in Narrm/Melbourne, and working across cultural and educational spaces since 2008, her work considers how creative practices and organisations can respond to the converging crises of our time. https://www.aclimateforart.com.au/https://leifjustham.com/ Earth Matters #1538 was produced by Mia Audrey on Yuin Nation country.
JAN 4

Benny Zable challenges mask laws. /Matthew Jeffrey: First Nations Organiser and Climate Justice Advocate

Benny Zable and Tarneen Onus Browne have filed a legal challenge in the Federal Court against Victoria Police's decision to declare Melbourne's CBD and surrounding suburbs a "designated area" for six months, enabling officers to conduct warrantless pat-down searches across the entire CBD, and making it an offence to refuse a search.Links:Benny Zable webpageProtester statue proposed for Byron Bay. The statue is of Benny Zable in costume, and you can contribute by buying a mini statue.The Benny Zable ProfileLegal challenge to CBD-wide warrantless searchesMatthew Jeffrey: First Nations Organiser and Climate Justice AdvocateAs a Wadi Wadi man and the First Nations Organiser Coordinator for Rising Tide, Matthew Jeffrey's role is to create a welcoming and empowering space for First Nations people at climate protests like the Newcastle event. This includes facilitating advocacy and increasing their participation in climate justice discussions.LinksRising Tide
12/28/2025

Climate change, green capitalism, and the myth of ethical consumption

In this episode, host Keiran Stewart-Assheton looks at the propaganda we are sold around ethical consumption, particularly in the form of "green" energy, electric cars and carbon offsets.He asks Who really pays for this? Are we sacrificing lives for lifestyle? Can individual lifestyle choices truly make an impact?

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Local and global environmental issues from grassroots, activist perspectives with a strong social justice focus. Distributed nationally on the Community Radio Network.