New Year Resolutions for 2023
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 1 Jan 2023
Business-As-Usual Dinosaurs might ignore the climate and ecological emergency, but YOU can stand up for our planet. Check our suggestions for 2023 resolutions, and be like XR SW Victoria’s Local Group - never give up, never stop trying!
In 2023, if you haven’t done it already, join XR Rebels in your local area.
The hardy band of rebels in XR SW Victoria set a mighty example with their regular actions in Warrnambool. By the end of 2022, ‘Signs in the Pines’ (above) had chalked up an impressive 115 consecutive weeks of fun and effective actions through balmy weather, blazing sun, bitter cold and pouring rain.
Extinction Rebellion is a decentralised organisation. XR Local Groups and XR Affinity/Special Interest Groups make independent decisions about the actions they organise, following XR’s basic principles of direct action and non-violence.
We wish all XR Rebels the very best for their actions in 2023
XR’s basic demands can inspire great New Year Resolutions!
* TELL THE TRUTH - XR’s first demand is a perfect resolution for governments in 2023. Government should tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, and work with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
Fridays for Future, Move Beyond Coal, Extinction Rebellion, Knitting Nannas and others gathered in Sydney in November 2022 (above) to expose NAB’s lies while the bank prioritises profit over the planet and the survival of humanity. The NAB campaign will continue in 2023.
Queensland XR held a Fossil Fuel pool party at Southbank Brisbane/ Meanjin after the Federal election. The Labor government, while better than the Coalition, is still committing us to a catastrophic temperature rise of at least 2 degrees, and has no plans to stop new oil, coal, and gas projects.
* ACT NOW - XR’s second demand is for governments to act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. Let’s all make a resolution to Switch to Emergency Mode. There isn’t much time left if we are to avoid the worst effects of the climate and environmental catastrophe.
XR ACT took Blinky the fire-burned koala to Federal Parliament, representing the billions of animals killed in climate fuelled bushfires and the threat of extinction. Australia has one of the worst records for species extinction in the world.
* BEYOND POLITICS - XR’s third demand is for government to create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice. What does this mean and how do Citizen’s Assemblies work? Resolve to find out more about Citizens' Assemblies in 2023!
When governments fail us, it’s time for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Those of us who know how close we are to climate catastrophe must find the courage to sound the alarm and cause a level of disruption that will force our broken political system to respond.
It is our duty to take action.
Here are a few more suggestions for New Year Resolutions.
* RESOLUTION: Listen to the Experts
We must all resolve to learn from Australia’s traditional owners and insist that governments take notice of what climate scientists have been telling us for many years.
Climate Researcher and Meteorologist Darren, and Ecologist Annie glued themselves to the Santos building entrance during a non-violent protest by scientists and XR SA Rebels in May 2022 at the Santos Flinders Street HQ.
Listening to the experts means listening to Australia’s original environmental custodians. The May action by scientists followed events reported by NITV, where dozens of people travelled thousands of kilometres across the country to protest outside the Santos AGM.
Gomeroi woman Dorothy Tighe served a notice of trespass order at the AGM to Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher. Dorothy said that the Gomeroi people haven't been consulted and haven't given consent for Santos Narrabri Gas Project.
* RESOLUTION: Expose greenwashing and climate hypocrisy by governments and industry
Fossil fuel companies are washing their brands through sport, as Big Tobacco did for a generation, with Formula One and AFL. As awareness grows of the role fossil fuel companies play in the climate crisis, companies like South Australian oil and gas company Santos are eager to shore up their reputations by drawing on the enormous positive energy created by sport.
In April 2022 XR Brisbane rebels attended the Queensland Reds v Brumbies rugby union match at the SUNCORP stadium to send a message that we support sport but we don’t support the sponsorship of Santos. Santos promotes natural gas as a clean, green product although it is contributing to unnatural disasters and the destruction of our planet.
* RESOLUTION: Defend the Right to Protest
In 2022 New South Wales and Tasmania increased penalties and restrictions on protests. Victoria followed suit. This is a terrible response to the climate and ecological emergency; choosing to attack the messengers, rather than tackle the real issues of deforestation and habitat destruction and state-sanctioned protections for business as usual.
Let’s make a resolution to do everything possible to reverse the criminalisation of climate protesters. It shouldn’t be criminal to engage in climate activism. What should be criminal is the action of the billionaires who profit from the destruction of the planet and the destruction of human and animal life.
XR held snap rallies to protest the unjust sentencing of NSW climate activists and increasing criminalisation of peaceful protest in April 2022.
* RESOLUTION: Target Fossil Fuels relationships with government
Wave 1 of XR South Australia's campaign to End Fossil Fuels Now began in October 2022.
Over one hundred rebels blocked the entry to the Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference (APOGCE) on Day One of the conference (above) to send a message: the fossil fuel industry is not welcome.
The next wave of the XRSA End Fossil Fuels Now campaign begins with targeting Santos during the Tour Down Under from January 13th – 22nd. Decentralised public protest actions will continue across the state - including open actions that anyone can participate in at any time and targeted disruptive actions. Rebels from the ACT and Victoria will also be running actions in this period.
Stop FF Subsidies is a campaign to make governments STOP giving fossil fuel companies OUR MONEY. They prepared a banner ready at famous Byron Bay lighthouse, the most eastern point of Australia, to welcome the dawn breaking on 2023.
Our governments gave $11.6 billion in public money to the fossil fuel industry last year; that’s $22,000 a minute to support polluting coal, gas and oil. If governments are serious about the climate crisis there can be no more fossil fuel subsidies for fossil fuels.
In the week following COP 27, courageous XR WA rebels drew attention to the Climate Emergency and government subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
* RESOLUTION: Fight for a Just Transition
Join with XR, other groups and trade unions to fight for a just transition away from fossil fuels – a transition that doesn’t leave disadvantaged communities behind. We need funding for green jobs, free education and re-training for today’s fossil-fuel workers, and liveable welfare.
* RESOLUTION: Take action to stop the destruction of native forests
Climate and forest activists from around Victoria rallied at the Bourke Street office of VicForests in October 2022 to demand an immediate end to logging native forests and a just transition for forest workers.
Koalas took refuge high above the road in tripods, to avoid destructive government policy in the form of a chainsaw-wielding Dan Andrews. Several koalas and other supporters were arrested. Photo by Matt Hrkac
The Victorian Government unveiled a plan in May 2022 to increase penalties for citizens wishing to protect our forests from often unlawful logging practices by VicForests. The so-called ‘Sustainable Forests Timber Amendment (Timber Harvesting Safety Zones) Bill 2022’ would mean potential fines of $21,000 or one year’s prison for anyone entering a logging ‘coupe’.
The reason given for this was the safety of workers, however there is no evidence that the safety of loggers has ever been compromised by protest actions in forests. Time and again citizens observing the actions of VicForests have prevented unlawful activities and protected precious wildlife. The new law seeks to prevent any scrutiny of VicForests.
* RESOLUTION: Put politicians on the spot
Congratulations to all the rebels who kept climate in the forefront of people’s minds during the 2022 General Election. More people realised just how serious the issue is and voted accordingly. Climate Activists lined the road to Government House in Canberra on 1st June to remind the new Labor Cabinet about why they were elected.
Let’s keep up the pressure!*
* RESOLUTION: Keep the Climate Crisis in the news
Be loud and proud! For the second year in a row, activist groups including Rainbow Rebellion Sydney staged a counter-protest in March 2022 before the televised Mardi Gras Parade.
Rainbow Rebellion Sydney is an affinity/spacial interest group of Extinction Rebellion, creating a non-violent safe space for the queer community to engage in the fight for climate justice in the same way they are involved in many other social justice issues.
* RESOLUTION: Renew the call for renewables!
We need urgent action to reach 100% renewable energy generation and exports. Politicians rarely mention how many jobs will be created by renewables. Many people will be needed to work on the manufacture, installation, maintenance and administration required for the renewables power system.
* RESOLUTION: Show why we must get into the right relationship with our life support systems
Demand investment in development and food growing practices that regenerate our life support systems instead of destroying them! We stand at a crossroads with the existential threat of the interconnected climate and extinction crisis. The endless industrial economic growth models of the extractive-extinction age are suicidal.
The salmon industry in Tasmania represents one of many contributors to the slow disaster of marine ecological collapse, unfolding across the globe.
In August 2022 XR Tasmania Red Rebels traced the shoreline adjacent to farmed salmon pens near Tinderbox on Lutruwita/Tasmania's southern coast to protest the ever-expanding extractivist model of industrial salmon farming.
* RESOLUTION: Highlight the danger to our food supply from climate disruption
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for thousands of years, cared for the land, managed populations of fish and eels and mammals and cultivated crops. They cared for the land in sustainable ways that recognised the intersections between ecosystems and ensured the land and waters could continue to provide for future generations.
Today, our failure to take care of, and live in harmony with our environment is pushing all of us towards extinction, and we don’t have much time left.
Demand investment in the right kind of development and food growing; in practices that regenerate our life support systems instead of destroying them.
Best of luck with your New Year Resolutions for 2023 - the stakes couldn't be higher!