White lemuroid possum brooch

This celluloid brooch depicting a white lemuroid possum, with pink ears, nose and foot, sitting on a green, yellow and black tree branch, was created in 2014 following a series of events involving a Greens senator, a university vice-chancellor, and a jewellery designer.

A celluloid possum brooch. The possum is white with pink ears, nose and feet, it sits on a black, green and gold branch.

The white lemuroid possum brooch created by French jewellery designer Léa Stein for Christine Milne to raise awareness of the threat of climate change.

In 2011, when the Gillard Labor government passed the Clean Energy Bill, then-Greens Senator Christine Milne wore a brooch by French jewellery designer Léa Stein depicting a polar bear as a statement about the threat of climate change.

The then-Vice-Chancellor of James Cook University, Sandra Harding, saw a photograph of Milne wearing the brooch and wrote to her, suggesting she draw attention to an Australian animal instead, specifically the white lemuroid possum, a rare Australian marsupial species that is extremely sensitive to rising temperatures.

White lemuroid possums live in the cloud forest within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in Queensland. They have no defence mechanism against heat and cannot survive for more than four to five hours in temperatures above 30°C. There are only two populations of these possums, one of which was nearly wiped out by a heatwave in 2005. Although they have bounced back, scientists say it's only a matter of time until it happens again.

Milne responded to Harding, promising that she would raise the possible extinction of these possums at a climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. Harding sent her a collection of round pinback badges featuring the white lemuroid possum to wear and hand out at the conference.

A badge with a picture of a white possum sitting on branch against a black background.

Christine Milne handed out these badges featuring a picture of the white lemuroid possum at a climate change conference in Durban.

Milne then decided to ask Léa Stein to create a brooch portraying the white lemuroid possum, to raise awareness of the animal's plight. Stein agreed to make a possum brooch and based her design on Harding's badges. A limited number of 10cm-wide brooches were created for release in Australia and later internationally, each signed by Léa Stein and each with a unique pattern due to Stein's celluloid layering technique.

Milne said, 'When I wear that brooch, it is a statement that at the poles and in the tropics, our fellow species, which we have known and loved, are on their way to extinction.'

This brooch reminds us how we can all stand up for our beliefs each day through the clothes and accessories we wear, allowing us to wear our hearts not just on our sleeves, but also on our lapels.

What was the Clean Energy Bill?

The Clean Energy Bill outlined measures, including a price on carbon, to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. Fierce debate ensued about whether the Bill could substantially alter a global crisis, and concerns were raised about the risk of increased energy costs. The Opposition, led by Tony Abbott, voted against the Bill, and vowed to overturn it if elected, but it passed with the support of key Independents and the Greens.

Who is Christine Milne?

Christine Milne is an activist and ex-senator who was first elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as a member of the Australian Greens in 1989. In 1998, she lost her seat, but in 2004, she was elected to the federal Senate. Milne was deputy leader of the Australian Greens from 2008, and leader of the party from 2012 to 2015, when she resigned from the Senate.

Léa Stein's jewellery

French jeweller Léa Stein has been creating jewellery since the early 1960s. She developed a method of layering and laminating extremely thin sheets of celluloid acetate, a type of mouldable plastic, with her chemist husband, Fernand Steinberger. Her pieces are baked for long periods, cooled and cut into shapes to create iconic multi-dimensional art. This process can take up to six months to complete.