Time to strike

Australian matters, Local Geelong matters

In Australia, Thursday 29 April 2021 is a national week of action ahead of both the announcement of the Federal Government’s annual budget and the next major climate strike in Australia. The week will consist of creative stunts with storytelling and banners to ensure a clear message is sent across: “Fund our future, not gas.“

And then on Friday 21 May 2021, School Strike 4 Climate will be taking to the streets again, calling out the government’s plans to back gas instead of their future. 

A month later, Saturday 26 June 2021, is Global Day of Action with the theme: ‘Protect our future from fossil fuels’, called for by Fridays For Future Australia and local groups – an online video conference focusing on protecting the planet from fossil fuel and on promoting a worldwide day of action.

“We have arrived at the moment where we must choose whether our generation will be remembered for ruining the planet or the one that saved it.”  
~ Barton Rubenstein, co-founder, Mother Earth Project

School strike for climate in May

Phoebe Rountree, Mobilisation Coordinator at ACF, wrote:

The students from School Strike 4 Climate are calling out the government’s plans to back gas instead of their future and are taking to the streets again on Friday 21 May 2021. 

They’re demanding our government #FundOurFutureNotGas. And they’re calling on all of us to join them in colourful, COVID-safe rallies across our continent.

RSVP to a strike on Friday 21 May near you

After a year of Zoom meetings and online action, the student strikers are now able to take to the streets again. This is the first time in a while we’ve asked you to turn up in person at a mass demonstration – and it’s because we believe this moment is urgent and full of possibility for big change.

Instead of taking climate action seriously, the Morrison Government continues to promote its proposed ‘gas-led recovery’ – against the position of some of our biggest energy providers and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

The government is under mounting international pressure to step up – it’s up to all of us to turn up the pressure here by showing up in huge numbers on May 21.

The student-led movement is working hard to make these gatherings powerful without risking the health of our community. It’s up to all of us to back them in and call for a climate response commensurate to the risk we face – just like we’ve seen in the response to the pandemic.

I’ll be hitting the streets in Melbourne, walking with young people to demand a future where sun and wind power our country and where nature and communities thrive – a future for all of us. 

I hope you can join me.

Phoebe

These are independent events run by our allies at School Strike 4 Climate. These are COVID safe events. Please observe the health advice around public gatherings and COVID restrictions for your state. Please bring your hand sanitiser and face mask, observe physical distancing, and do not attend if you feel unwell or have cold or flu-like symptoms.

→ ABC News: United States President Joe Biden launches global climate summit by pledging to cut US emissions in half by 2030

→ RenewEconomy: Major energy players back AEMO’s plan to abandon gas-led recovery scenario

→ Retweet

National week of action against the Australian government’s dirty gas plans

Right now the government is planning to give billions of public dollars to the climate wrecking gas industry in the upcoming Federal budget. We’ve got a huge opportunity to stop this in its tracks and the next few weeks are critical.

While our Morrison Government is deciding how to spend public money for the next few years, it’s up to us to ramp up the pressure and public opposition to gas. We need him to show them that we want public money spent on public good, not climate wrecking gas. 

The more of us that take action, the louder we’ll be. From 22 April to 4 May, we’re taking action across the continent to make sure our leaders fund our future, not gas. Find an action near you below

National Week of Action: Find an Action!

East Melbourne/Kooyong – Josh Frydenberg’s office, 145 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East, April 29 @ 8am RSVP HERE (AYCC)

Geelong West – Geelong West Town Hall, 153 Pakington St, Wednesday April 21 @7pm RSVP HERE (AYCC)

North Melbourne/Cooper – Ged Kearney’s office, 159 High St, Preston, April 27 @ 12pm RSVP HERE (350 Aus)

West Melbourne/Corio – Richard Marles’ office, 17A Yarra Street, Geelong, 28 April @ 12pm, RSVP HERE (350 Aus)

Brisbane: Brisbane Sign, South Bank Parklands, 3 Stanley Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Saturday May 1st @ 10am RSVP HERE (AYCC)

Gold Coast/Fadden – Stuart Robert’s office, 110 Brisbane Rd, Labrador, 27 April @ 12pm (350 Aus) RSVP HERE

Brisbane conversations with Getup – location TBC, 1 May @ 10am (Getup) RSVP HERE

Newcastle – Newcastle Civic Park, King St, Newcastle, Monday April 26 @10am RSVP HERE (AYCC)

East Sydney/Wentworth –  Bondi Beach, Ramsgate Ave, North Bondi, 2 May @ 11am RSVP HERE (350 Aus & Knitting Nannas)

Sydney CBD/Sydney – Tanya Plibersek’s office, 1a Great Buckingham Street, Redfern, date & time TBC (350 Aus & Knitting Nannas)

Taree/Lyne – David Gillespie’s office, 144 Victoria Street, Taree, 30 April @ 10am-12pm (Knitting Nannas) RSVP HERE

Grafton/Page – Kevin Hogan’s office, 1/83 Prince St, Grafton, Thursday 22 April from 10.30 am

Coolongoolook/highway action – opposite the Mobil Station, in front of the Coolongolook Oval on the Pacific Highway, Sat, 24th April 10am -1pm RSVP HERE.

Southern Highlands/Goulburn – location TBC, 27 April 11:15am RSVP HERE.

South Coast/Moruya – Meet the 350Eurobodalla team near the Moruya Roundabout (adjacent to the council chambers), 30 April @ 8am RSVP HERE.

Lismore/Page – Kevin Hogan’s office, 63 Molesworth St, Lismore, Thursday 29th April from 8.30am

Sydney conversations with Getup – location TBC, 1 May 11am RSVP here.

Hobart – Hotel Grand Chancellor, 1 Davey St, Tuesday April 27 @ 8:30am RSVP HERE (AYCC)

Canberra – Tent Embassy, Friday 23rd April @ 12pm RSVP HERE (AYCC)

Canberra – Zed Seselja’s office, 25 Ernest Cavanagh St, Gungahlin, Monday 2nd May @ 10am RSVP HERE

Adelaide – The RiverBank Bridge –  Thursday April 29 @ 11:00am RSVP HERE (AYCC)

Adelaide – Rex Patrick/SA Senator – 31 Ebenezer Place, Adelaide, April 30 @ 12:30pm (350 Aus) RSVP HERE

Adelaide conversations with Getup, location TBC, May 1 @10am RSVP here.

Darwin/SA Senator – Sam McMahon’s office, 229 McMillans Road, Jingili, 22 April, 11am (350 Aus) RSVP HERE

Perth/Pearce –  Christian Porter’s office, 28 Main St, Ellenbrook, Friday 30 April 12-1pm RSVP HERE (Lock the Gate)

Protests against the Morrison Government’s plans to spend millions of public dollars expanding the dirty gas industry

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition wrote:

The Morrison Government has just signed a $1 BILLION energy deal with South Australia – bankrolling millions for polluting gas projects under the guise that it will help Australia “responsibly combat climate change” [1] 

They’re not fooling us. 

The Government’s dirty gas agenda would lock us into emissions for decades to come, exacerbating climate change –  yet instead of prioritising our climate and our communities, the Morrison Government is planning to spend millions of public dollars expanding the dirty gas industry. 

With the upcoming Federal Budget, right now is a crucial moment in the fight for climate action, – Can you chip in $12 to help us rapidly scale up our grassroots organising in order to counter the Government’s vested interests?

Together, we can ensure the Morrison Government doesn’t trade away our futures for corporate profits.

Right now, our public money should be used to create the solutions to the climate crisis that we want to see, that will actually serve our communities – not spending millions of public dollars propping up the greedy gas industry.

At a time when other countries are increasingly ramping up their climate ambitions, Australia is yet to commit to a net-zero emissions timeline [2]. 

So, on Thursday 29 April we’re coming together for a national day of action ahead of the budget, with creative stunts, storytelling, and banners to ensure our message is clear – Fund our future not gas

By raising our voices through collective action, we can harness media attention and public energy to make sure our message is seen far and wide and heard loud and clear. Our communities will not stand for public money going to dirty gas projects that risk our climate and our futures

This is a crucial moment to pressure our leaders to make the right decisions. Will you be the next person to chip in $12 to help young people across the country tell Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to fund our future, not gas?

Together, we can use our collective power to call them out and stand up for a more just and equitable future powered by renewable energy.

Lee – for the AYCC team. 

P.S. Fired up for action? Find out where and how to join the Week of Action at a rally, stunt or event in your community!

I acknowledge that I work, live and play on Aboriginal land, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge the leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the continent in the fight for climate justice. Sovereignty was never ceded.

[1] Scott Morrison signs $1bn deal to shore up energy reliability in South Australia, The Guardian, April 2021

[2] ‘No action on anything’: Australia increasingly isolated as US and others ramp up climate ambition, The Guardian, April 2021