Princes Bridge, Melbourne/Naarm "Life Hanging By A Thread"
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 27 Oct 2021
As the Morrison Government prepares to go to the Glasgow Climate Talks as a laggard and a wrecker, Extinction Rebellion blocked the Princes Bridge in Melbourne to draw attention to the total inadequacy of current targets.
Eight protesters were arrested for gluing themselves to the road and disrupting traffic. Prams were thrown over the side of the bridge dangling on ropes with the message "Life Hanging By A Thread" as a symbol of the uncertain - but surely dangerous - future that is being left to today's youth and the next generation.
Spokesperson Sam Clarke said:
"It's code red for humanity - that's what the UN is saying and all the science supports it - but our government is failing to protect us from the climate catastrophe. All they give us are lots of words "blah blah blah", and targets which will take us to climate collapse. Today, members of Extinction Rebellion were prepared to participate in some non-violent civil disobedience as we know that's all our government will listen to, and it's our best bet to create the rapid changes necessary to create a safe climate."
As police moved in around them, glued-on protesters gave reasons why they were taking part in the action.
Mark Conroy:
“Governments around the world are directly profiting off the wholesale destruction of our entire planet. We do not have a safe future for our children, we do not have a safe planet. We are on the pathway to a hothouse earth. If we don’t act now, we are facing death, destruction, poverty, starvation and a massive refugee crisis, war over resources and the potential extinction of human life on this earth. It isn’t lunatics who are telling us this – it’s eminent scientists – respected people at the height of their profession. Telling us that if we do not change course as a global society, we face the destruction of everything. Professor Will Stefan of the Australian University told us that we are looking at hell on earth if we do not change.
“The government has set a target of net zero by 2050. But that’s like poisoning our water supply and being told we’ll do something about it in 10 years. We’re removing the bricks from the foundation of life on earth. We’re facing starvation – our government is refusing to act so it falls on ordinary citizens like us. I don’t want to be doing this. I want to be playing music and hanging out with my friends, especially after being for so long in lockdown. But if people like me don’t do this, then we face the destruction of everything. We have to stand in the way – we have to disrupt, because they will not listen to us otherwise.”
Rebecca:
“I was a schoolteacher for 36 years and taught thousands of high school students. This is the sort of behaviour that a responsible, respectable hard-working teacher would do at the end of their career because they can see that existence is hanging by a thread. Our government at the moment is in the hands of lobbyists. The seven children who took the government to court for duty of care won that court case. And now Minister Sussan Ley is saying that the government doesn’t have a duty of care. And she’s arguing that in court!
“We’re still following all the rules of distancing, we’re wearing masks, but we’re ready to urgently demonstrate that the government not only needs to attend Cop26 but has to declare a climate emergency, bring in renewables, plant billions of trees and put billions into halting the climate disaster that’s facing us. “
Merry Kidby:
“It’s just unbelievable that governments – particularly the Australian government - are behaving as though it’s business as usual… By 2100 most of the planet may well be uninhabitable. It is NOT business as usual. What we do in the next decade will make all the difference. We’re still mucking around with a government that is denying, delaying and downright lying. Their net zero by 2050 is a load of codswallop. We know the dodgy accounting tactics they use. We’ve seen car park rorts, land development rorts, emissions offsetting rorts – it will be the same. Net zero by 2050 has the capacity to hide a whole load of shonky deals. And that’s what we’re going to get from this government.”