Make us Proud in Paris, Julie

Chilla, Dinny, and other members of the French delegation

CASE – Climate Action for a Safe Environment – is a community group formed in the Curtin electorate in April 2015. Convenor Chilla Bulbeck and Climate Leader Dinny Laurence invite you to add your voice and ask Julie Bishop to "Make us proud in Paris, Julie" at the UN climate talks later this year.

Julie Bishop is our local member and she is also Australia’s lead negotiator at the UN climate talks culminating in Paris in December. This is a unique opportunity to amplify a conversation between Minister Bishop and her constituents.  While her immediate constituents are in her electorate, as the foreign affairs minister and lead negotiator, every Australian should be asking her to ‘Make us Proud in Paris’. Check us out at curtinscase.org.

Getting involved with CASE

We have:

•  collected over 4300 signatures on our petition
•  delivered or sponsored over 50 letters to the minister
•  written a submission to the government’s discussion on the UN climate talks process.

On Thursday 21st May,  we presented the petition in a French delegation (30 people including 2 musicians) to Julie Bishop's office, to ask her as lead UN climate talks negotiator, to 'Make us Proud in Paris, Julie'.

You can add your voice to the campaign by sending a personally written letter (click here for some tips). You can also edit and send our standard email, sign our online petition and like our Facebook page.

The French delegation in Curtin

Julie Bishop and climate policy

CASE convenor Chilla meets with Julie Bishop

CASE came together because we believe there is a real chance that Julie Bishop will respond to business and community voices on this most vital issue.

In two meetings, one with Climate Reality leader Dinny Laurence and the other with CASE convenor Chilla Bulbeck, the minister gave indications that she is aware of the issues and the need for strong action on climate change.

For instance she

• accepted the necessity to keep global warming within 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels;
• acknowledged the threat to Pacific nations of global warming;
• was evidently proud of Australia’s  $200m contribution to the Green Climate Fund; attended the UN climate talks in Lima against the Prime Minister’s wishes;
• In a media interview, acknowledged that the renewable energy target was not intended to be a limit on the amount of energy that should be produced from renewable sources.



By mid-June, the government will release its proposed binding emissions reduction targets for international scrutiny and revision. Right now is an important moment to tell the minister that Australians want effective action on climate change. In fact over 60% of Australians want the government to take a lead on this issue.

Unfortunately, the minister accepts the line taken in the first government paper on the UN climate talks process that Australia is a special economic case because the economy relies heavily on coal to fire our power stations and as an export commodity. Numerous studies demonstrate that Australia will suffer if we do not move to renewable energy, most recently one from the ANU. 

While the minister may be most responsive to economic arguments, concerning:

• the cost to agriculture and tourism from global warming
• the need to move with our trading partners into renewables if the economy is not to experience a recession caused by relying on mining ‘stranded’ coal reserves
• the budgetary costs of infrastructure repair following superstorms, sea level rise, cyclones, bush fires and droughts,

it is important also to ask her to protect the things we love from climate change: our families, our health, our precious natural places, our relaxed lifestyle.

Wherever you are, please join the conversation to tell Julie Bishop that ambitious action on climate change is the only way to protect our economy as well as our lives and our future.