Young Protesters Gather in Cities, Take Aim at Aust PM’s Activism Comments
Student activists who felt condescended by the Prime Minister have vowed to remove the Liberal Party from power — and keep it out — as long as it maintains its current climate policies.
Thousands of protesters gathered in capital cities on the east coast yesterday in a co-ordinated march against Indian energy giant Adani’s Carmichael mine and rail project.
At the end of last month, Adani announced the scaled-back AU$2 billion (FJ$3.04bn) controversial coal mine in the Galilee Basin would go ahead and would be 100 per cent self-financed, with work starting before Christmas.
While the attendees at the rally were diverse, it was school-aged students who were leading the crowds.
“It’s awful to see our leader feels like we shouldn’t have opinions and we shouldn’t care and they shouldn’t listen to us,” 14-year-old Jean Hinchliffe said in response to Mr Morrison’s calls last week for “less activism in schools”.
“It’s just atrocious. As students we are very informed and very educated and that’s why we’re taking action.
“We’re fighting for our own futures.”
Jean was the organiser of the Big School Walk Out in Sydney, which saw thousands of students leave classrooms and march through the streets.
She spoke to more than 1000 people at Sydney’s Town Hall Square yesterday and said it was unlikely to be her last time marching against the Coalition.
A national ReachTell poll conducted after the student strikes showed 62.7 per cent of the 2345 surveyed agree school students have a right to “demand that the Morrison Government act urgently” on climate change.