The Federal Election Has Been Called! – And We Want You to Put The Planet First

The next federal election has just been called for Saturday 3rd of May. Over the next five weeks, you’re going to be bombarded with messaging from politicians, the media, friends, and family, all sharing their views on who you should vote for and why. 

Well, we’re going to throw our two cents in too, because although we’re facing multiple crises as a nation and as a world, climate change is the one that’ll drastically affect every single life on Earth, in ways we can hardly fathom.

At We Are Explorers, we reckon that action on climate change should be your top priority when it comes time to vote. We want you to Put The Planet First, and we’ll help you do it too.

Photo by James Tugwell

Put The Planet First

For many young people, this is possibly the most important federal election since they’ve been allowed to vote. The stakes are high, not just for the future, but for the present. Every single vote counts, and with Australia’s preferential voting system, you can make sure your first preference is counted, and your second, and your third, fourth, and fifth. 

I remember the first time I voted, I put the Sex Party first because I liked a video they posted on Facebook. That was back in 2013. The leader I actually wanted in power didn’t win. 

Despite supposedly learning how voting and the parliament worked in school, I felt like I went into the voting booth totally blind, with only a viral video for reference when it came to party policies. 

We don’t want that to be you. 

Over the course of the election campaign, we’ll be providing information on;

• Party policies surrounding climate and the environment
• A breakdown of how the voting system works
• Which independent candidates are supporting strong climate action
• How to get involved in democracy outside of election time
• Effective ways to have conversations about voting for the planet

You’ll be able to find all the resources on our Put The Planet First page – check in weekly for updates!

A Lot Has Happened Since the 2022 Election

A lot has happened since the last election – across the world, but also in terms of climate change in Australia. Let’s not wait to find out what’s in store over the next three years before taking action. 

Flood, fires, drought, Australia bears the brunt of it all – Australia IS bearing the brunt of it all. And yet we continue to dig up coal, frack for gas, and burn through oil like there’s no tomorrow, which sometimes feels scarily accurate. 

That’s why waiting for another election in 2028 will be too late. 2025 is already pushing it.

Since the 2022 election, Australia’s biodiversity has continued to decline, with a record-breaking number of species added to the threatened list, all while the destruction of these species’ habitat doubles and, in some cases, triples. This is despite the end of native forest logging in Victoria and fierce community opposition to logging of habitat across the country.

Binybara/Lee Point in Darwin | Photo by Friends of Lee Point

In fact, the cost of restoring Australia’s biodiversity has been calculated at $583 billion a year for 30 years – a figure we know is simply out of reach.

Flooding has ravaged communities rarely affected before, from Melbourne to Cairns to Broome, while out-of-control fires burn in some of Australia’s most loved natural places, including the Grampians and takayna/Tarkine Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef suffered devastating bleaching events.

Despite some wins against offshore oil and gas, the federal government has continued to prop up the gas industry and even approved all ten new or expanding fossil fuel projects it assessed, rejecting none.

@grumpyturtlefilms

This is Not Normal

This level of environmental devastation is not normal. The amount of natural disasters young Australians have already witnessed in their lifetimes is not normal. But it is the new normal. We have to try to halt climate change before it spirals out of control. We have to be willing to adapt our lives to this new climate we find ourselves in. 

And we need people in government who are brave enough to lead us through what’s to come. We deserve leaders who have our best interest at heart and who want to see us live and thrive, not fend for ourselves when the waters rise and the flames arrive. 

Let’s make sure we vote for them. 

Feature photo by @evadavisboermans