Ministers express support for pupils’ climate action strike
SOME MPs say school pupils have a right to go on ‘‘strike’’ over global warming.
Thousands of New Zealand pupils plan to go take part in the worldwide day of action over global warming on March 15.
Government minister Phil Twyford said yesterday it was great to see young people getting involved in issues like climate change because ‘‘if there’s one issue that’s going to affect the next generation it’s climate change’’.
Green Party coleader and Climate Change Minister James Shaw said on Monday he agreed pupils should leave classes to protest next week.
But he told RNZ yesterday he was not urging children to participate in the event.
‘‘In choosing to take time out in order to do this, these students are placing something at risk.
‘‘That’s actually the point of a strike, you’re placing something at risk and that is an individual choice that people have to make for themselves.’’
Fellow minister Damien O’Connor said there were teacheronly days so March 15 would be a ‘‘kidsonly’’ day.
‘‘These kids are smart. We are dealing with their future.’’
Mr O’Connor said he would be ‘‘absolutely’’ happy for his five daughters to skip school to attend the protest.
Opposition leader Simon Bridges said it might be better if the day of action took place on the same day as secondary teachers went on strike, April 3.
‘‘It’s a serious issue but I certainly wouldn’t want to say anything that encourages students to be taking time out of their schooling.
‘‘They’ve got a lot of time at other points of the day, the weekend to be doing this,’’ he said.
National education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye said government ministers should not be encouraging students to participate.
‘‘I’m a bit concerned that we have got the Minister for Climate Change out there encourag ing people to not be at school and that does put parents and principals in a pretty difficult situation,’’ she said.
She said ideally the strike should have been held outside school hours.
‘‘We want more kids involved in politics, and it’s a good discussion.’’
The global strike is expected to bring tens of thousands of pupils on to the streets across Europe, the United States, Australia and other countries.
Last week, national coordinator Sophie Handford said protests were being organised in more than 20 towns from Russell, in the Bay of Islands, to Invercargill.
‘‘We are thinking like definitely in the thousands across the country,’’ she said.
‘‘If we hit 5000, that will be awesome. If we hit more than that, that will be even better.’’
New Zealand Secondary Principals Council chairman James Morris said school principals would not condone the strike.
‘‘Whilst most principals would support students expressing support for climate change action, they would be reluctant to approve students taking time away from their classes to do so,’’ he said last week. — NZME