Protest has an important part to play in our society

PROTESTS unite people, raise awareness and demonstrate power of ordinary people. They give a voice to the voiceless and hold government accountable for their actions or inactions.

So the next time you’re feeling powerless against the administration, you can join me and other like-minded people on marches, protests and rallies so that our children can enjoy what you enjoyed during your childhood.

Have you ever wondered what you would have done during the civil rights movement in 1963? Exactly what you are doing in the climate emergency of 2020.

Turning a blind eye and doing nothing is putting a dagger into the hearts of our children, our wildlife and our beautiful natural world. Generations will condemn you for your inaction.

History has shown us that protesting works. In 1913 the Woman’s Suffrage Parade, led to equal voting rights for women. In 1930 Mohandas Gandhi marched with tens of thousands of people for the right to make their own salt. It ended up by getting free of British rule. In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr protested at the Lincoln Memorial to end racial discrimination. Would King have achieved this by signing countless petitions?

The regular letter writers to this paper can keep saying this fire season is normal, and we’ve had worse. This is a complete falsehood. Even worse, we were warned it was going to happen. Not only did the Greens warn us, but the government’s own CSIRO did so. In 2009, a report commissioned by the CSIRO called The interactions, between climate change, fire regime and

biodiversity in Australia, stated there would be up to a 65 per cent increase in severe fire danger within 10 years. Southwest Australia and along the east coast would be affected the most and the Northern Territory would be least affected.

More frightening is that the same report claims that by 2050 it will be a 300 per cent increase in severe bushfire danger.

I urge the readers to Google this report as it is freely available. Ignore the warnings at your own peril.

SHAUN CUNNEEN ELANORA