Melbourne has already shown this is all possible! 🌟 Since 2011, vegetation along the Merri Creek has grown from 28.9% to 50.7%! As planting continues, and trees mature, canopy along the creek is projected to reach 65.1% by 2035. The restored Moomba Park Wetland filters stormwater from roads and roofs before it reaches Merri Creek, removing pollutants and improving water quality. It creates habitat for threatened species like the Growling Grass Frog, and includes walking tracks, viewing platforms, and educational signage where people can learn about water cycles and local wildlife. The native plants and water features create a natural cooling effect, helping to reduce urban heat.   For tens of thousands of years, First Nations peoples have managed and cared for these lands as a living cultural landscape that provides food, medicine, and spiritual connection. Since colonisation began, 90% of Melbourne's wetlands have been destroyed. By restoring wetlands, we're not just bringing back ecosystems - we're healing the relationship between our city and Country, following the wisdom of First Nations land management that has sustained this place for millennia. More trees = better health and happiness Decades of research show that when we have enough trees around us, we experience less depression and anxiety. Our children have safe places to play. Friends and families can sit outside comfortably in the shade. We can have cooler, safer suburbs  As our climate changes, trees are our natural air conditioning. They can reduce summer temperatures by up to 8 degrees in the areas they shade. This isn't just about comfort – it's about safety. Trees protect people from heat-related illness and even death. Our communities will be stronger When we have beautiful, tree-lined streets and nearby parks, we spend more time outdoors. We bump into neighbours. Children play together. Communities come alive. The trees we plant today are the legacy we leave for our grandchildren.  Wildlife will thrive Thousands of native flying foxes died in Melbourne's January heatwaves. These sacred animals can't handle temperatures over 42°C - and our city keeps getting hotter. More trees will help cool our city down.  We have the knowledge. We have the expertise. We have the opportunity to show the world what a truly liveable, sustainable city looks like. Now let's make it happen. A city where every street has trees, every neighbourhood is cool and green, and every person can enjoy the benefits of nature, no matter where they live. Sign to help make it happen! ✍️ And then find out how much tree canopy coverage your neighbourhood has here.

My name is Te Raukura O'Connell Rapira and I whakapapa (have ancestral lineage and connection) to Taranaki through my Nan Kirikaa Moerewarewa Haddon. My iwi are Te Ātiawa and Ngāruahine, my marae is Owae in Waitara and my ancestral mountain is Taranaki.  After visiting CERES one day and being suprised there is a street called Taranaki Avenue in East Brunswick, I reached out to Brunswick Community History Group who told me there are seven Māori street names in the area: Taranaki, Akeroa, Waihi, Orari, Pareora, Timaru and Temuka. These streets were created as part of a post WWI soldier settlement project in 1921 and were named in recognition of the ANZACs. It is not known if any Aboriginal or Māori people were involved in this naming or decision-making, though it is doubtful. According to Brunswick Community History Group, there are just three streets in Brunswick with First Nations names: • Merri Street - named after the Merri Creek and the Wurundjeri word meaning 'rocky' • Wyuna Street - named in 1883 after an irrigation settlement in northern Victoria and derived from a First Nations word • Yarrabin Street - named in the 1940s and thought to be derived from a First Nations word - language not identified - meaning 'white eucalyptus tree'. After consulting with the Wurundjeri Land Council and people I love and respect back home in Taranaki, I am petitioning the Merri-bek Council to have the street name Taranaki Avenue removed and - if Wurundjeri Traditional Owners want to - replace it with a Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung word. I do not have the whakapapa or authority to speak on any of the other six Māori street names but welcome collaboration from any Māori whose tūpuna (ancestors) names are being used on these streets of Brunswick without our involvement. When I consulted with Wurundjeri Land Council, they told me it would be lovely to have a cross-cultural ceremony between Māori and Aboriginal people for the name change if we get to that place. They also told me that it was them who received the racist backlash when Moreland Council changed its name to Merri-bek Council despite it not being an initiative started by Wurundjeri folk but a well-meaning settler like me. I want to avoid this racist backlash by gathering as many petition signatures as possible from people that live in the Merri-bek council area and in particular the people that live on Taranaki Avenue whose street I will be door-knocking.  I stand in the Taranaki lineage of Parihaka which is a legacy of nonviolence, peace and conscientious objection to war.  Many Indigenous people fought alongside the ANZACs under the coerced promise that would elevate our people's standing in colonial society and support the generation's long work towards land return and justice. Promises by colonial governments were broken in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. Families were broken and we still feel the impact of this injustice today. I support the Yoorrook Justice Commission's recommendation for redress for all First Peoples impacted by these broken promises. 

We all have special places we care for. For Larrakia people, we are especially connected to the places that hold our Creation Stories, where our Ancestors are buried, our places of Healing and Ceremony and the Sacred Lands we’ve cared for - for generations. People who created the colony of Australia stole, extracted resources, and built their wealth from these special places. As a result, Aboriginal people have been prevented from protecting and nurturing our ancestral lands, life-giving forests and sacred waterways. Today, many of these places are damaged - which impacts all of us. Lee Point in Darwin is one of these special places. Lee Point is a sacred area of Larrakia Dreaming, Ceremony and history that is currently under threat of being destroyed by Defence Housing Australia to build 800 houses for the military and First National Real Estate O'Donoghue's profits. With trees older than the colony of Australia, Lee Point is a beautiful coastal bushland teeming with life, song and Spirit. For millennia, Larrakia people have cared for the lands surrounding Lee Point. Generations of Larrakia families have brought our children to Lee Point to hunt, fish and be with family, to learn who they are and how to care for Country. Today, Larrakia people are working to protect Lee Point after people in government gave Defence Housing Australia permission to demolish our sacred lands and stop us from passing our culture onto the next generations. Our goals are to protect Larrakia Country and culture, stop Defence Housing Australia from desecrating our sacred lands at Lee Point and ensure the NT and Federal governments return Larrakia lands to Larrakia people. For Larrakia people to look after these places based on thousands of years of knowledge, we need Country returned to our care. When this happens our people, Larrakia people, can again fully enact our responsibility and guardianship of the lands we all care about.

Darwin knows what care looks like.  We know how to feed families and whole communities with a line and a hook. We know how to stand together and make sure no one is left behind.  That spirit is under threat. Greedy fossil fuel corporations want to dredge our harbour, pollute our seas, and poison our water — all to make a quick buck. The proposed expansion of the Middle Arm gas hub risks destroying the very things that make Darwin home.  It doesn’t have to be this way. The Federal Labor Government has a responsibility to the people of Darwin and to Larrakia Country. Instead of throwing $1.9 billion of public money into a polluting gas hub, the government must fund what truly sustains us — a safe climate and thriving communities. That money could protect what we love: clean seas, a living harbour, restored creeks, cooling forests, and families with secure futures. Darwin life is unique, vibrant, and abundant. We know how to make a lot with a little. We know how to care for each other and for Country. Tell the Federal Labor Government to throw a line to our future — protect Darwin Harbour from pollution and greed, and invest in a First Nations‑led future that cares for people and Country.