The devastation of the Black Summer bushfires sparked Canberra woman Dr Janet Salisbury’s call for climate action through the Women’s Climate Congress, and the rest as they say, is history.

Dr Salisbury, 70, has spent her career in science communication advocating for greater collaboration and less partisan conversations around science, and her latest organisation, the Women’s Climate Congress, is aiming to do just that.

After years of silently circulating her ideas, then experiencing the 2019-20 bushfires, Dr Salisbury and her group of women friends came together with a drive to make a change.

The initial meeting was held on 20 January 2020, and 35 women coincidentally braved the infamous Canberra hailstorm to gather at the Australian Centre for Christianity in Barton.

From the first gathering, and a second two weeks later, the Women’s Climate Congress was officially established, and then COVID-19 hit.

Instead of the global pandemic becoming a detriment, it gave the Congress the opportunity to connect with women across the country through the internet and expanded their reach. They now have members in around three quarters of all electorates across Australia.

The group of women have two major ideas they’ve taken forward to Parliament; one, to instill a more cross-sectional approach to governance to allow deeper listening, particularly around climate change; and two, that it’s time for women to be at the forefront of climate discussions.

“So, we’ve put that proposal constantly to government … you don’t know where these ideas land, really. Obviously, the previous government didn’t immediately take up our plan, but we were also talking to Anthony Albanese’s office, and now there’s a lot of talk about the new ways to do government and wanting to be more collaborative and all of that sort of thing, so it is very heartening to see that now,” Dr Salisbury says.

“One of the things we have been advocating for is more women’s leadership, obviously, and I sat and listened to all of the – well, not all of them, but quite a lot – of the maiden speeches of the new members.

“Not only the new Independents, but the new ALP [Australian Labor Party] women and the new Liberal women and the Greens, and it was very heartening to hear a sort of common ground of really wanting to make a safe environment for future generations.”

Dr Salisbury is a mother of three grown children and a grandmother of five, and when asked where her passion for climate activism stems, tears sprang to her eyes at the thought of her grandchildren.

“I am a grandmother… and I do feel incredibly concerned for the future of these beautiful little, dear human beings coming into the world. So that is a big motivation for me,” she says, her voice wavering.

“And also, I have had a very long interest in dialogue and public discourse and how we can do things better, because it just seems the world is on such a dangerous trajectory both in relation to environment and war, and if we could only be more able to listen – not immediately vilifying the other side and going into adversarial discourse.

“Our public discourse is sort of riddled with adversarialism; it’s in politics, it’s in the media, it’s in the law courts … if only we could be more open to listening to what other people are bringing to the table to work things out.”

The main mantra Dr Salisbury brings to the Congress is the old African principle of Ubuntu, which was introduced to her by some women from the group.

“That concept is a concept of us all being interconnected. Loosely translated it means ‘I am who I am because of you, we are who we are because of each other’ and that we’re connected,” she says.

“That concept of Ubuntu was used by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu to inform the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa, and I just find that idea has really motivated me and that’s been an interest of mine for a long time.

“You can’t just say ‘oh, it’s the fossil fuel companies over there.’ I mean, we’ve all been benefitting from the industrial revolution; we all need to take some responsibility of hopping on planes to go and visit Italy. It isn’t just as simple as blaming. I suppose I’m trying to get away from the blame.”

National Congress of Women comes to Canberra

The Women’s Climate Congress are bringing leading Australian women from across the political spectrum to Canberra for the National Congress of Women on 11-12 September.

One panel will be hosted by former parliamentarians to share their “wisdom of experience”, and the second will feature current parliamentarians – one from each political party – to discuss the potential for further collaboration.

“The other thing is to promote this idea of the possibility of a stakeholder process that brings together diverse stakeholders in a mediative way to develop a national plan for climate change that everyone can get behind,” says Dr Salisbury.

Speakers across the two days will include former Senator and Minister for the Status of Women, Margaret Reynolds, Former Federal MP and Minister and Ambassador for Women and Girls, Dr Sharman Stone, Federal Member for Warringah, Zali Steggall OAM MP, Federal Member for Bass, Bridget Archer MP, Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon MP, Chair of the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Dr Valerie Cooms, and more.

Dr Salisbury compares the Congress to the women in 1915 who fought for peace during World War I and says there’s similarities between their fight for climate justice within the political sphere.

“They had two things on their mind; one was that they had to get the war stopped and they had a plan for that, and that was this mediation plan, and then the second was they needed to create a situation for permanent peace,” she says.

“For the mediation type of process that we’ve advocated for – the stakeholder engagement – we’ve got to get the climate stablised and it’s urgent; we’ve got to do it now. That’s like stopping the war.

“But then if we don’t want to continue to be in this situation going forward, we need to create the conditions for ongoing human and planetary wellbeing.”

She also sees the same passion for justice from the young people involved in the student climate strikes to the women of 1915 and says they inspire her, but she’s cautious to push climate responsibility onto them.

“To me, the students are almost like the same, because they don’t have the vote and they come with their whole heart and their experience and what they can see happening, and how it’s going to impact on them,” says Dr Salisbury.

“And the way they talk, it just takes into account all that planetary wellbeing stuff, as well as they’re not just looking at their own selfish – well they are very concerned about their future – but they seem to be able to see it in this holistic context.”

The range of issues traversed within the Congress are common conversations that “just come up over, and over again,” says Dr Salisbury.

“It’s things like intergenerational equity… do we need something like a commission for the future? Something where policies are seen through the lens of how it impacts on future generations, new economic paradigms that take into account caring and the environment and respecting your First Nations knowledge.”

Pacific and First Nations women are forefront speakers at the National Congress of Women, and Dr Salisbury says it’s “incredibly important to have First Nations women”.

“With diversity, women is only the tip of the iceberg. If you really want to have all of the voices, then you need to have that cultural diversity,” she says.

“I just think First Nations, when we talk about that human and planetary wellbeing, they’ve just got such a lot to teach us about their governance, just their basic underlying principles of governance and organisation that they espouse is incredibly inspiring.

“Just even their principles around gender equality… women have an absolutely equal and autonomous place, but it’s also seen that there’s certain different things and priorities that women bring.”

According to Dr Salisbury, to be a part of the Women’s Climate Congress is to be part of a movement of voices empowering women in decision making roles, so they know other women have their back.

“Women can come to build this movement and build this voice and to make it unstoppable and do this collaborative thing and actually fix the problem in a way that we all come together rather than in polarised way,” she says.

Asked what men can do to support the Congress’ cause, and why they are not invited to be part of the organisation, Dr Salisbury is quick to explain what role men can play.

“There’s vast numbers of men out there that want to support this, so we don’t want to shut them out and we do value that support,” she says.

“So, I think what men can do is just to support women being women, like these women standing up in Parliament now. Men can say that’s great and don’t walk out, actually listen. That’s what men can do and then we can work together.

“It would be wonderful if we do really have gender collaborative governance – for women and men to work properly together and on proper equal terms, I think that’s really important.”

For more information on the Women’s Climate Conference and the National Congress of Women, visit www.nationalcongressofwomen.com

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