Singing for stronger nature laws

Climate Choir Melbourne were invited to sing while guests arrived at the Australian Conservation Foundation’s public forum at the Hawthorn Arts Centre on 10 November 2023. The forum was a discussion on the weakness of our national nature laws (under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) and how these rules are in fact failing to protect nature.

Speakers included local Federal MPs Monique Ryan (Independent) and Michelle Ananda-Rajah (ALP) together with expert speakers from the ACF, and audience questions. Our repertoire for the evening included songs about threatened species, forests and sustainability. Julian Meehan (@julian.meehan.portrait) was there with his camera – thanks!

Choir sings divestment to NAB

On Wednesday 31 May, Climate Choir Melbourne joined #MoveBeyondCoal in Melbourne at the NAB National Headquarters, delivering a new Market Forces report to NAB executives and staff.

Our songs reflected the reports findings, highlighted NAB’s failure to deliver on its own climate policies and calling on them to stop lending to climate wrecking coal companies, including Whitehaven Coal – who they have lent $268 million to since 2016! Here are some pictures from the day (thanks Julian Meehan).

Climate Choir sings “Divest: to Commbank

Climate Choir Melbourne joined 350.Org and other climate activists on Thursday 12 October to make sure that divestment from fossil fuels was on the agenda at CommBank’s 2022 AGM in Melbourne. We entered the meeting as proxies for concerned shareholders.

Our first two songs were received with a mixture of abuse, applause and polite interest; we were then politely asked to leave. We departed singing our anthem “Do it now” and joined the sizeable crowd outside.

We started with:
(To the tune of Pack up your Troubles)
Divest your bus’ness from all gas and coal And smile, smile, smile.
Divest your bus’ness from all gas and coal ‘Cause fossil fuels are vile.
What’s the use of profiting? CommBank is in denial
So! Divest your bus’ness from gas and coal
and smile, smile, smile!

We were surrounded by media (though sadly we didn’t appear on Channel 7).

After we were shown out of the meeting, climate issues continued to dominate the meeting with a series of questions.

You can petition Commbank to divest, here: https://www.bankonourfuture.com.au/australian-banks/commbank/

Climate Choir Melbourne sings for Threatened Species Day

On 7 September 2022, Climate Choir Melbourne joined numerous environment and performing groups to mark Threatened Species Day. You can see us above singing outside Victoria’s State Parliament behind Blinky, the giant burning koala – which provides an alarming symbol of a species now threatened with extinction.

The rally finished in the Treasury Gardens, where the choir wound up the day with two favourites: Healthy Forests (to the tune of Botany Bay), and Do it Now (to the tune of Bella Ciao). You can learn both songs from words and music in our library.

Thanks to Julian Meehan for the pictures.

Our band warming up before the march. (Photobombed by koala)

Two songs for the forests

In early June, Climate Choir members went to the forest in Kinglake. We sang two songs to support the campaign to stop logging, in a climate emergency. We sang in an area were native forest had recently destroyed by clearfelling.

We were joined by local campaigners, and two talented film-makers.

You can now watch the completed videos on our new Climate Choir Melbourne YouTube channel:

For the Trees
Emergency

These have been made to be shared, so please send around far and wide! They are also available and shareable on our Facebook page.

Climate Choir Melbourne and Kinglake friends

Freshly added: Carols, and lots of links!

Looking for climate song ideas? Have a browse through our Links page for links to web pages, shared folders, and Facebook groups where Climate Action songs, chants and carols are shared by activists in Australia and around the globe.

We’ve also updated our Word Sheets page with Christmas Carols for festive season rallies! Plus the words for Fay White’s Compost Maker’s song, and for Su Hart’s Drastic Plastic.

Check our Facebook page or write to us – at climatechoirmelbourne@gmail.com – to join or support us.

Songs now online

We’ve uploaded lots of word-sheets, music sheets and some audio tracks.

Our Spring Rebellion wordsheet (on the Wordsheets page) has our current favourites, plus some new songs we’ve learnt at this week’s demonstrations. We have audio tracks for some new songs.

If you’d like to learn the Extinction Rebellion theme song, This is an Emergency, we’ve uploaded a wordsheet, the music notes, and audio for all parts – go to the wordsheets, music or audio pages.

See our Facebook page for our current activities – tonight, Thursday, the Combined Spring Rebellion Choirs will sing at the Spring Rebellion camp in the Carlton Gardens, from 6pm to 8pm.

Our songs are on the way

We’re setting up this site to share Climate Choir Melbourne’s easy-to-learn songs.
Watch this space, over the next few days!