Send me a message

Regina Featherstone is a Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Legal Centre and co-authored their recent publication Climate and Environmental Whistleblowing: Information Guide. On Regina, well you know when you meet someone who is clearly a star rising - articulate, steady, eager and virtuous - that is Regina. We didn't have the time today to get into more than just this guide but her background is immensely impressive.

Regina has worked in top corporate law firms but also in community legal centres where she has focussed on migrant worker exploitation and workplace sexual harassment, and for several years worked as a solicitor on Nauru assisting asylum seekers to secure refugee status. To do that work and what she has worked on since, speaks of an incredible moral fibre and a courage that is not conditional - something we talk about in this episode.

And this episode - you'll hear it in the opening, but I was nervous speaking about this topic. Whistleblowing is a contested topic - the actions of the dobber, the mole, the nark, the rat. Personally I don't really get it - I don't see why anyone would go to such an extent to create such danger to themselves if there weren't serious and credible evidence of wrongdoing. But it's often how whistleblowers are perceived that prevents wrongdoings from coming to light.

The Whistleblower Project set up by the Human Rights Law Centre just over a year ago is a remarkable effort to educate, empower and shift how whistleblowers are perceived and dealt with in Australia. It is essential work, which is something Regina shares about, while the specific need for guidance on matters relating to climate and environmental wrongdoings is also fascinating and has the potential to re-shape how the many and lofty future state dreams and fantasies of many organisation's climate and environmental pledges are both made and acted upon. It feels like there is a double sided sword to this, but to really avert the worst outcomes of the already here climate and biodiversity crises, we need truth, no matter it's palatability or the discomfort it causes. These crises are real and based on chemistry, physics and biology - so should the disclosures and actions in response. Without that, we are only further endangering ourselves and the lives of beings to come.

The work of Regina on this guide is not one you'll want summarised though, and I hope this conversation is the beginning for you in becoming curious about going and checking it out, plus the whistleblower project's work more broadly. I can barely think of a more important part of the climate action system at the moment than this - a legitimate channel by which to raise legitimate wrongdoings that harm the future of our ecosystems, our atmosphere and ultimately all of us from now onwards.

The next newsletter comes out next Saturday morning, September 28 - a nod to the good old days of Saturday mornings with coffee and a newspaper and not six jillion content sources to be inundated by. These are longer form reads that are about timeless offerings from people in the finding nature community, and the next edition is on the concept and principle of time.

Regina's work and that of her colleagues is captured by this great line from Pierre Corneille - a 17th-century French dramatist. “Patience and time conquer all things.”

Until next time, thanks for listening.

Today's show is delivered with Altiorem. Use the code FindingNature10 to get your first month free on their gold and platinum plans.

Today's show is delivered with Gilay Estate. Add Finding Nature to your booking reservation for

Thanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram