Rebels with a cause
About 20 people participated in a peaceful demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion in Warragul on Thursday to highlight what they say is a “climate emergency.”
The participants laid on the pavement in Palmerston St as if dead, displaying messages about the climate emergency that calls for urgent action.
Police attended the demonstration but were not called on to take action. The demonstrators did not disrupt any traffic movements or obstruct pedestrian walkways.
Banners called for a “just transition” and “rage, rage against the dying light.”
Carol Rowley of Trafalgar used a megaphone to send a message to surrounding community members as they passed the area.
“Climate change has grave costs for our community that can no longer be ignored.
“The fires across Australia this week have caused catastrophic damage.
“This government has the chance to be the first to turn the years of inaction and neglect into action and focus and allow our communities to reap the awards.
“We need the government to acknowledge the link between climate change and bushfire,” Ms Rowley said.
West Gippsland Extinction Rebellion member Malcolm McKelvie said onlooker reactions were mixed from vocal support to head shaking – “highlighting the need to impress the urgency of the crisis to more people as well as governments.”
The West Gippsland branch members want Baw Baw Shire to declare and act on the climate emergency, joining hundreds of other local, state and national governments who have already done so.
“We need all levels of government to plan and act with urgency to avert the worst of the catastrophic future that awaits us if we continue with business as usual,” Dr McKelvie said.
The West Gippsland branch was formed following an information session hosted by Extinction Rebellion in Warragul in August.
Member Les Grosberg said Extinction Rebellion had three demands:
For governments to tell the truth about what is happening to the climate;
For governments to act on that information; and,
Establish citizens assemblies with experts advising where the action should be taken.