Environmental issues, according to the stereotype, are the concern of the middle class. In fact, as our two panellists will discuss, working class people are not just the most affected by environmental threats - they have a substantial history of organising in response,
In the late 1960s, Harry van Moorst led mass civil disobedience campaigns against conscription and the Vietnam War. Thirty years later, he led the successful campaign against corporations dumping their toxic waste in disadvantaged Werribee. Mass rallies and the threat of union bans led to the toxic dump being scrapped. Harry went on to be the director of the Western Region Environment Centre, and will be speaking on environmental issues and campaigns in Melbourne’s working class western suburbs.
Naomi Farmer grew up in the Latrobe Valley. Her father worked in the giant Hazelwood open cut
coal mine near Morwell – the scene of the catastrophic mine fire in 2014. Naomi and the rest of her family have been involved in community campaigns in this coal community in transition, at the time of the fire and afterwards.
Readings
Rocking the Foundations (film)
Smoke and Mirrors by Tom Doig
Disaster in the Valley by Naomi Farmer
Privatising disaster by Kim Doyle
Hazelwood mine still burns by Naomi Farmer
Hazelwood mine inquiry exposes cover up by Naomi Farmer
Poisoned for Profit by Jerome Small by Jerome Small
The Werribee Toxic Dump by Harry Van Moorst
No toxic dump! A victory for grassroots democracy and environmental justice by Paul Stranglio
A working-class green movement is out there but not getting the credit it deserves by Karen Bell
The Big Picture: Working-Class Environmentalism by Daniel Aldana Cohen
Canadian Working-Class Environmentalism, 19 65 –19 85 by Katrin MacPhee