On Tuesday, June 2 members of the Wills Vigil to End Fossil Fuels celebrated a year of action.

We also took time to honour one of our former members, John Englart, climate hero, who died unexpectedly in July last year. John was a founding member of the vigil, which was held for the first time outside the office of Peter Khalil, federal MP for Wills, on June 3rd 2025. Since then it has been held regularly every Tuesday from 11 am – 1 pm (apart from a break over the Christmas – New Year period).

Befitting John’s legacy, the one-year anniversary was a joyful occasion.

Photo of John Englart by Val Kay. Photos of basket of free fruit and herbs and the two members of Riff Raff Radical Marching Band by by Nina Killham

Members of the Riff Raff Radical Marching Band and the Climate Choir Melbourne provided music and song, while vigil members gave away free fruit and herbs from their gardens to passers-by.

We celebrated a year of climate action and solidarity, of talking with the public, explaining why we are there and why we need to phase out fossil fuels.
During the year, we have consistently called for the government to make a plan for a fair and orderly phase-out of fossil fuels – coal, gas, oil and oil products including petrol and diesel – and for Peter Khalil to support this call.

There have been some wins on the way, especially when Australia signed the Belém Declaration calling for a just and orderly transition from fossil fuels in 2025.

There have also been times of frustration, when neither Peter Khalil nor Chris Bowen, minister for climate change and energy, would clarify what Australia plans to do in practice.

Over the year, we had many friendly interactions with passers-by. In May we gave Peter Khalil 99 letters from constituents supporting our cause, but so far we have not had a response.

A phase-out of fossil fuels will not be easy, which is why we need a national plan, but it must be done, because fossil fuels are the biggest single cause of global warming. We need to move away from them if we want a safe future for our children and grandchildren, and all of us.

Members of the vigil will now be taking a break to focus on the upcoming state election, which will be a very important one for climate and environment action in Victoria.

Once that is over, we will plan our next phase of action on federal politics. We will not lose sight of the goal: an orderly and just phase-out of fossil fuels.

Postscript: legal obligations on fossil fuels

In a post last year on Australia’s emission targets, we noted that the International Court of Justice had issued an advisory finding that countries must act to reduce emissions from fossil fuels. Failure to do so “may constitute an international wrongful act”.

We now note that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Ms Astrid Puentes Riaño, has been granted leave by the Australian Federal Court to intervene in a legal case over fossil fuel approvals (the Northwest Shelf case). You can read more about it here and here.

The case involves Murray Watt, the federal Minister for Environment, who has responsibility for decisions on mining and gas applications under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. However, it seems to have implications for the whole government, including Chris Bowen as Minister for Climate Change and Peter Khalil as our local MP.

In plain language, if our courts accept that the people of Australia have a human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and that governments must act on fossil fuels, it is hard to see that Chris Bowen and Peter Khalil can just keep ignoring us when we ask what they are doing.

The case is yet to be heard, so we will have to wait for the outcome. As noted, we are focusing on the state election at present, but we will post updates when we can, and welcome updates from any readers who are following this case.