Rebel mum takes a seat for the planet
A TOOWOOMBA mum was one of several people arrested at Monday’s Extinction Rebellion protests in Brisbane.
Alison Fearnley was arrested after sitting down in the middle of George St near the Treasury Hotel.
Extinction Rebellion is the political movement that utilises civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance to call for action on climate change.
It began in the United Kingdom in May 2018 and has spread all throughout the world, including Brisbane.
Activists involved with the movement generally block streets in creative ways to disrupt traffic and activities.
Ms Fearnley said she has decided to attend the rally to “try to do everything she can to protect the future for herself and her daughter”.
“I really don’t enjoy inconveniencing people, but I have decided to join Extinction Rebellion’s activities as traditional campaigning methods used for the past 30 years have failed miserably,” Ms Fearnley said in a statement before Monday’s protest.
“The situation is desperate so we must try something new, and studies show nonviolent civil disobedience is the best hope we have for achieving the unprecedented changes needed to protect the planet for ourselves and our children.
“For example, women fighting for the vote as part of the Suffragette movement in the early 1900s took actions like heckling politicians, hunger strikes and chaining themselves to railings. They were widely perceived to be crazy radicals but without their efforts I wouldn’t enjoy the freedoms I have as a woman today.”
Ms Fearnley was one of about 30 Toowoomba residents who travelled to Brisbane to take part in the protests, though was the only person from Toowoomba who took part in civil disobedience action.
“I have been a law-abiding citizen all my life and before this year I had never been to a protest,” she said.
“I grew up in a small country town, I am a Justice of the Peace, I have a job, a daughter and a mortgage. What I need though is a safe future.”
“Let’s be clear here, this is a global emergency. Last year’s UN IPCC report said we are at high risk of heating the world so much that it will make the planet uninhabitable for most humans and that we need to halve carbon emissions in the next 10 years.
“It is my hope that participating in this global movement will help wake people up to the emergency that is unfolding so we can at least have a chance of minimising the damage that is coming our way.”