no shark fin for yarra ranges?

At next week's council meeting (24/7) I'll be moving a motion in relation to shark fin products.

Cr Samantha Dunn and the Yarra Ranges Young
Environmental Achiever of the Year for 2011,
Jordan Crook.

The current Yarra Ranges Young Environmental Achiever of the Year, Jordan Crook, is embarking on a new project, Fin Free Ranges. Jordan wants to raise awareness of the plight of the world's Sharks and the impact of shark finning on the population of this apex predator. With Fin Free Ranges Jordan aims to rid the Shire of Yarra Ranges of Shark Fin Soup and contacted me to ask if council could assist him in his efforts.

I'm told by Jordan this motion is a first for Australia. I'm delighted to be able to bring this motion before Yarra Ranges councillors for their consideration.

Jordan continues to be a leader in our community on environmental matters and his latest initiative, Fin Free Ranges, is another example of his passion for the broader environment.

Jordan's actions are commendable and his passion for environment has made him a worthy winner of Young Environmental Achiever of the Year in the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

I wholeheartedly support Jordan and Fin Free Ranges and certainly hope my colleagues support Jordan as well by voting in favour of the motion.

YOUthdecide – voting starts this week

Calling all young people to vote in the Youth Referendum YOUthdecide.

Youth Decide '09 is a national youth vote on climate change. The Australian Youth Climate Coalition is giving Australia’s 4.8 million young people the chance to vote on what kind of world they want to inherit. It’s an opportunity to tell the government the sort of targets you want them to be talking about at the climate talks in Copenhagen later this year.

Part of raising awareness included the youth summit, Powershift, where young people across Australia came together to learn about the latest climate science and the action required to seriously act on climate change.

I sponsored a group of students from local secondary school, Sherbrooke Community School, to attend Powershift as well as two of the Shire’s young leaders, Nerida Lennon and Jaymie Rudd.

Here’s some feedback I got from the students at Sherbrooke Community School.

“We spoke to people from other high schools from our region on what their school is doing to be sustainable. We concluded that our school was doing pretty well but we can still do better.

In my group I said our school has got:
a 5.2 kW photovoltaic solar system
tank water used in the toilets
a specialised bin system where all food scraps are composted and paper and recyclable material is recycled
two sheep who mow the lawns
a developing fruit tree orchard
a newly built chook shed
revegetation strategy
a new conservation area
a plan to eradicate weeds in the school
a vegie patch transforming into a Koorie garden
and an enviro group to make these things happen

And a girl from a prominent Melbourne private school said WOW you have a lot of things at your school we planted daises at the front of our school.

That really told me something. Nothing against private schools well but our school totally kicked some butt when it came to sustainability.”

Great work Sherbrooke, your actions for a sustainable future set a benchmark for other schools to follow!

powered up for powershift

This week saw young people across Australia attend Power Shift, a summit organised by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. The summit was organised to coordinate a massive display of young people's commitment to finding stronger climate solutions.

When I first heard about Power Shift, I thought it was a great opportunity for young people across the country to learn more about climate change from leading figures of the climate movement. The organisers are keen to see young people armed with information to implement clear and ambitious plans of action to combat climate change. I was keen to ensure that young people from Yarra Ranges were represented at Power Shift.

I was very pleased to be able to assist with funding for a group of students from the Sherbrooke Community School to go up Power Shift. The students from Sherbrooke Community School are very active when it comes to climate change, two of them joining me recently for a meeting with Greg Hunt (federal Shadow Minister for the Environment).

Jamie Rudd, me and Nerida Lennon, the two young leaders I sponsored to go up to Power Shift.


I was also pleased to sponsor two of the Shire's "Young Leaders", Jaymie Rudd and Nerida Lennon to attend the summit.

Jaymie said the conference was a great opportunity to meet people who share the same opinions on climate change and were interested in making a difference.

Nerida said the conference gave her the chance to explore her interest in actions people could take to create and secure a positive future in terms of climate change.

The summit is covering a huge range of topics including campaign and event planning, public speaking, lobbying and leadership development and will be of great assistance to young people trying to get the message about climate change out there.

A number of presentations to be made include ‘How Combating Climate Change Leads to Job Creation’ and ‘International Security and Climate Change’, with keynote speakers including Dr Tim Flannery and Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Dr Rajendra Pachauri.

I can't wait to hear how they all went, I'm sure they are now equipped with a valuable insight into current news on climate change and the knowledge and tools they need to pass on the message to their peers and the broader community.

A salient point was made at this weekend's Power Shift summit by Co-director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Anna Rose, who said "Young people have the most to lose from climate change, we're the last generation that has the chance to solve this problem in terms of the time frame scientists have told us we have."

And she's right.

school focused youth service needs analysis report released

I have just read the School Focused Youth Service Needs Analysis Report which highlights some the key themes and emerging issues for young people in the Shire.

The SFYS works with local schools and agencies to support student wellbeing across the state. The needs analysis provides local schools and agencies with priority areas to address the needs of young people and it provides some sobering reading.

From information gathering the following are the top four priorities in Yarra Ranges:
Depressed mood and depressive disorders
Violence
Early School Leaving
Sexuality

Emerging issues include:
At Primary Schools: Anxiety, autism, aggression and anger management, grief and loss, poverty & welfare needs and relationships with peers, family & school.
At Secondary Schools: Risky behaviours, cyber bullying, transport, need for support for boys including role modelling
From Agencies: Need for support for boys including role modelling, poverty & welfare needs, family support and transport.

The young leaders recently presented to council the results of a survey they had conducted with 281 young people across the Shire. One of the survey questions was about how young people feel they are perceived in our community. The results were interesting and very telling. Out of the 281 responses, 15 answered positively, the rest believed that they are perceived negatively.

The positives…
Most young people are seen as respectful and honest people
In our community we are perceived well
We are environmentalists of the future
Good role models
Recognised for sport and achievements
Smart and know what we are doing
We are the future…we will fill their spots

The negatives…
Focus on negative not positive
Drink, drugs, parties
Cause trouble
No respect for anyone…all the same
Immature
Station rats/annoying
Don’t look after environment
Unmotivated
Hoons and hooligans
Bad because we are young
Delinquents
Not taken seriously
Grow up too quick
Judged on appearance
Unemployable
Bad drivers

Our young people have a lot to contend with, the pressures of today are far different from those of yesterday. I have great faith in our young people, they have a lot to offer. We need to provide a supportive community that nurtures our young people. I have met so many motivated and talented young people as councillor for Lyster, their energy and commitment is inspirational.

Note: The Young leaders is a program run by Yarra Ranges to assist young people develop important skills that will assist them to discover what is great about their community, including the opportunities and challenges that exist for young people.