Canavan takes aim at ‘wagger’ protesters

QUEENSLAND students being egged on by climate change activists to walk out of class to protest against Adani has jolted Resources Minister Matt Canavan to demand “waggers” should get detention and write the lines, “coal is Australia’s biggest export”.

School Strikers for Climate Action – supported by Getup! – has implied Townsville’s devastating floods have been caused by climate change.

State Education Minister Grace Grace said protesters would need their parents’ permission and preferred “they conduct any protest in their own time, outside of school hours, not during the school day”. However, students are being lured by emails and on social media to walk out of school on March 15.

“Mining giant Adani is promising to start digging a new coalmine to open up one of the largest untapped coal reserves on Earth, vocally backed by our federal politicians who are ignoring the majority of us who want them to #Stopadani and tackle dangerous climate change,’’ emails by sent by Getup! say.

“A federal election is around the corner but our politicians have lost touch with us – the people they are meant to represent!

“As school students, we’re sick of being ignored. We’re sick of our futures being turned into political footballs. We feel sick when we see and hear about the climate impacts that are already devastating people and communities here and overseas. We’re walking out of school to tell our politicians to take all of us seriously and treat climate change for what it is: the biggest threat to our generation and generations to come.”

Senator Canavan said any student walking out of class to protest should “do lines, like ( The Simpsons character) Bart Simpson, saying, ‘ Coal is Australia’s biggest export’.

“No kid should be wagging school to go on a protest.”