Dear NEVILLE,

Well, it seems to be working.

Within a day of launching our new ad about the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, our phone was ringing with Government MPs trying to convince us to pull the campaign. We’ve never seen a response quite like it — and it proves our strategy is cutting through.

Click here to see the ad, featuring scary new footage of the threats to our Reef: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mining/gladstone/watch-this-video-now

1,623 GetUp members have already chipped in to put this ad on cinema screens across Queensland, but we’re locking in the final ad buys over the next week. Every extra donation means more voters will see this message – and that means more leverage for our campaign. A $42 contribution can pay for five days worth of cinema ads this Christmas blockbuster season.

We’re not asking for much. All Environment Minister Tony Burke has to do is commission the independent scientific review of mining operations on the Reef that UNESCO have asked for. So far there’s no word about the scientific review, but if it is planned, the Government will have our congratulations, we will withdraw our ads immediately, and offer all those GetUp members who have donated a full refund. Until then, it’s up to all of us to ramp up the pressure:

https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mining/gladstone/watch-this-video-now

In hope,
the GetUp team.

—original email—

We just got back from filming this video in Northern Queensland, and we can’t believe what we saw. The damage being done to the Great Barrier Reef World World Heritage Area will shock the country. Check it out here: https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mining/gladstone/watch-this-video-now

Dear NEVILLE,

The Great Barrier Reef is already under great pressure from climate change. But to make things worse, the Australian Government is giving Gina Rinehart and others the green light to build the world’s biggest coal export facility at Abbot Point, right on the edge of the Reef.

Near Gladstone they’re literally cutting channels through the seafloor for huge coal ships in a practice known as dredging. It releases toxins trapped in sediment which then find their way into our food chain. Locally, the effects are clear: fishers are bringing in catch that are so sick it’s not safe to sell. Globally, we are losing one of the natural wonders of the world, and doing it so we can export more coal to warm the planet. It’s absolutely crazy!

There’s something we can do about it. Environment Minister Tony Burke keeps saying publicly that he wants to save the Reef. He’s trying to walk both sides of the street – saying he’ll save the Reef but at the same time approving massive new coal and coal seam gas terminals – and so far he’s getting away with it, because only locals know what’s really going on. Together, we’re going to change that, and show both major parties that voters will know what they doing to the reef:

In our new ad, new footage and scientific interviews show Australia what’s really going on. Please watch and join the campaign now.

https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mining/gladstone/watch-this-video-now

Here’s the plan: there’s an election not far away. Queensland is full of important marginal electorates. The Great Barrier Reef employs 10 per cent of the population of Gladstone and adds $5 billion to the State’s tourism economy annually – we’re talking major economic ramifications, not just conservation – and politicians know it.

That’s why we’re kicking this campaign off by blanketing cinemas across Queensland. If we raise enough we’ll screen it in Tony Burke’s electorate too. Are you able to help this thing go big?

https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mining/gladstone/watch-this-video-now

Our Environment Minister Tony Burke and his government really don’t want destroying the Reef to become their legacy. Neither do we.

Thanks for standing up for the Reef,
the GetUp team.

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GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp’s work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Authorised by Sam Mclean, Level 2, 104 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.