In this article, originally published in The Manning River Times, I was interviewed at the Healthy Futures demonstration outside the AGL offices today, where dozens of health workers, doctors and nurses called for AGL to cease mining coal and transition to renewable clean energy by 2030. AGL’s current plan is to make this transition by 2048 which is in contrast to the IPCC, COP26 & WHO recommendations.
Dozens of nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers will protest outside AGL’s Melbourne headquarters calling for the energy giant to replace coal with renewable energy by 2030.
The action kicks off at 11am on Monday and will feature a mock medical ward to demonstrate the health impacts of air pollution and climate change.
Protesters will deliver an open letter signed by 25 health organisations and 600 healthcare workers, calling for AGL to commit to the World Health Organisation’s recommendation.
“As frontline healthcare workers, we’ve seen the deadly impacts of COVID-19 but we’ve also seen the health impacts of climate change as heatwaves and bushfires continue to get more frequent and more severe,”
Australian Federation of Medical Women president Magdalena Simonis said.
“As Australia’s biggest climate polluter, AGL must put people’s health first and commit to replacing coal with renewable energy this decade if we are to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”
Echuca Emergency Physician Simon Judkins said without rapid action to replace coal “our already stretched health system will struggle to provide the high-quality care that we all need deserve”.
AAP has contacted AGL for a response.
Magdalena Simonis
Chair, CHAG
Source article and photo credit – www.manningrivertimes.com.au/story/7600379/doctors-nurses-stage-agl-climate-protest
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
