Hundreds of students march on Parliament in climate protest
Wellington school students and other School Strike 4 Climate protesters marched to Parliament yesterday as part of a nationwide protest.
About 200 people gathered at Te Ngākau Civic Square before marching through the inner city, occasionally chanting slogans including “no more coal, no more oil, keep your carbon in the soil”.
At Parliament’s grounds Wellington Central MP Tamantha Paul said she was “proud” of the capital for showing up to the protest and urged them to “keep showing up because we’re gonna give them hell”.
“Even though you might not be old enough to vote, you can still make political power because you are powerful,” the Greens MP said. “Your voice is important.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau was also at Parliament grounds when the protest arrived.
Rae McLean said she took time off work to be at the protest because she was against the fast track legislation, describing it a “fast-track to the apocalypse”.
“It is going to allow infrastructure projects that don’t meet requirements for wildlife acts and conservation acts to be approved without public consultation,” she said.
Waikanae’s Sue Johnston headed south from the Kāpiti Coast with two friends. “We’re here to support the kids,” she said. “It’s their world, their future and we’re
“The issue is the younger generation feel that they’re not being listened to.”
Glyn
really shocked at what this Government is doing.”
She too wanted the Government to withdraw its fast track bill because it was “trampling” over environment laws.
Glyn, a father who asked not to give his surname, said he felt New Zealand was “going backwards” on climate.
He said associate education minister and ACT leader David Seymour, who said education should be prioritised ahead of protesting, needed to “use his ears instead of his mouth”.
“The issue is the younger generation feel that they’re not being listened to.”
The protest is climate-centred but attendees had different grievances, from ending the fighting in Gaza to calling the Government to “toitu Te Tiriti”.
The protest wound up about 2pm. School Strike 4 Climate Pōneke said on Thursday the protest was to demand the Government take “real and immediate” action to cut climate change and ensure a “sustainable, fair and healthy” society.
One of its advocates, Nate Wilbourne, said policies such as scrapping the clean car discount and redirecting climate funds in its mini Budget, showed New Zealand was “going backwards” on climate change.
The group also wanted an increase in climate education for all and halting the Government’s fast-track consent bill which could give ministers power to approve new projects outside the Resource Management Act (RMA), speeding up infrastructure builds.
Wilbourne said the Government needed to “start climate change seriously”, and its “lack of acknowledgement of the impending climate crisis” was encouraging “ignorance towards these issues”.
Other protests were held at Kāpiti, Auckland, Christchurch and Palmerston North.