Just Stop It: rolling actions stop fossil fuel business as usual
Extinction Rebellion Victoria, 30 Mar 2022
Every generation represented. Everywhere you look. For the sake of all generations.
XR Victoria continues to highlight the insecurity of our fuel supply this week, calling attention to the urgent need for an immediate transition away from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner, sustainable sources of energy.
DAY 2 TRUCKING ON!
On Tuesday, protesters on top of trucks draped with banners blocked the exit and entrance points at the Ampol terminal. Sue Jackson was there and wrote about it. This is what some of the protestors said.
Rosie Ganino, 64, mother of three and part-time teacher:
I am here today because the catastrophic effects of climate change are here right now. This should be glaringly obvious to everyone – including governments. Climate scientists tell us that we may have only 3 to 4 years before the point of no return is reached. I am doing this because nothing else has worked. I am at the point where I believe that peaceful civil disobedience is the only hope we have of saving this beautiful planet. It’s the least I can do for our children and for future generations.
Heike W, health worker:
I am risking arrest and disruption of my life to stand against the senseless destruction of all life and for the preservation and protection of the living organism that is our planet. For most of my life, I am 67 years old, I have worked with vulnerable people such as women experiencing domestic violence and indigenous people crushed by dispossession.
My work has sensitized me to abuses of power of any kind. In my mind the ecological and climate crisis are yet another expression of the insidious abuse of power. Globally humanity is now experiencing the grave climate consequences of the exploitation and extractivism perpetrated against our planet in the name of profit. The planet is treated as nothing else than a commodity.
The Earth is getting destroyed and these extreme weather events will affect the poorer people first. Species are threatened by mass extinction. Stand with us for life.
Merry K:
We're running so close to our certain annihilation it's unbelievable. It's awful the way that whole populations, whole countries, are basically being gaslighted by fossil fuel companies.
You can hear more from Merry in a 2 minute video on YouTube.
DAY 3: Where's our Climate Emergency budget? We have three to four years left. We need emergency action now.
On Wednesday morning, after the Federal Budget, in spectacular actions at multiple locations, Extinction Rebellion returned to Exxon Mobil. Some pointed out that the 22c fuel excise reduction could have been applied to fund renewables. They talked about how embarrassing it is that Australia is relying on fossil fuels. They said they were angry. "They won’t stop it so we’re stopping it now."
Rebel Brad, suspended himself from a tripod under the Westgate Bridge at a pinch point in the road between oil terminals. He lit an orange distress flare for the billion children the Climate Crisis puts at risk, according to the UN, while the legs of the tripod were incrementally cut from beneath him. Others locked on to the base of the tripod, or got up giant ladders back at the Exxon Mobil terminal, attached with lock on devices or glued on.
Brad Homewood, 49, father and truck driver:
This is a code red climate emergency. We’ve just experienced record breaking floods, before that it was record breaking bushfires, and before that it was record breaking drought, we were warned about this 30 years ago, and the government still has its foot on the accelerator when it should be hitting the brakes!
Mark Conroy, 31, musician:
I'd rather not be here - I come from an arts background and I'd much rather be working on plays and making music to enrich people's lives - but I know there is no music on a dead planet, and I know there's nothing more important Icould be doing with my life then taking non-violent direct action to end this madness and save our planet.
At the gates of the Exxon Mobil terminal, Sybils, ancient truth tellers in their colourful skirts bearing bold messages, circled tall ladders where rebels locked on.
Sam Clarke, 24, Music teacher:
I am risking arrest today because no serious progress is being made in reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and I am terrified of what the climate crisis will bring. I don’t enjoy taking these risks but I feel it's necessary as nothing else is working and we are running out of time.
JUST STOP IT keeps rolling on. Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/XRVictoria.