Extinction Rebellion blockade Exxon Mobil depot in Yarraville, Melbourne
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 14 Dec 2021
Locked on rebels urge others to join non-violent direct actions and civil disobedience.
Members of Extinction Rebellion Victoria locked on to a concrete barrel today, blocking the entrance to Exxon Mobil’s Yarraville fuel distribution facility for over three hours and bringing the facility to a stand-still. Exxon are not only climate criminals but have done their best to prevent action by spreading misinformation and green washing.
Brad Homewood, one of the locked-on rebels said:
“What we’re doing here today is essentially an act of self-defense. We’re doing it not just for the children in our lives but we’re doing it for you and the children in your lives too. This is a climate emergency, this is to combat the code red. It’s not just a 24-hour news headline, it’s daily reality, and things are going to get exponentially worse if we don’t do something about it. So please, think about what you can do to contribute to this movement; join XR, join Blockade Australia, join any group that is doing non-violent direct action and civil disobedience. We need boots on the ground, we need all the people we can get. Please think about it.”
Extinction Rebellion is deliberately targeting this major economic pinch point in response to a dangerously incompetent federal government, and a multinational corporation, both hell bent on ignoring the scientific warnings.
The scientific consensus is abundantly clear: we are in a climate and ecological crisis. Thirty-eight nation states and thousands of councils around the world have declared a climate emergency. Yet the Australian government handed the fossil fuel industry $51 billion in the latest Federal Budget, a sum that could easily transition our society to renewable green energy well before 2050.
This would create huge opportunities for sustainable employment and new industries, not to mention the money saved from dealing with escalating natural disasters, cleaner air and water, better food security and military security. Yet, our governments, who are supposed to work in our interests, create an ever more unstable world, for the sake of political “donations”. Our government is ‘captured’ by fossil fuels and we are saying ‘enough’!
Spokesperson Dr Catherine Strong:
“The majority of Australians are eager for action on climate, and we are tired of companies like Exxon having free rein to pursue profit no matter the cost. Huge subsidies are being spent on propping up these increasingly economically-unviable fossil fuel companies, while they pay no tax. They are vandalising our planet and doing it at our expense. It has to stop and it has to stop now.”
Spokesperson Dr Laresa Kosloff:
“Like many parents, I am horrified by the Federal Government’s support for the fossil fuel industry in a time of climate and ecological crisis. Australian tax is currently given to fossil fuel companies at a rate of $19,686 per minute. My taxes are funding the toxic and outdated industries that jeopardise my son’s future. We must transition to 100% renewable energy before it’s too late. The workers in fossil fuel industries must be transitioned to decent, well-paid jobs in sustainable industries, rather than being cast aside by Exxon Mobil when its outdated facilities inevitably close."
Photographs by Matt Hrkac