Thousands of Australians furious with the climate commitments of world leaders have rallied across the country as part of a global day of action coinciding with the crucial COP26 talks in Glasgow.
At Sydney’s Hyde Park on Saturday, around a thousand protesters gathered at Hyde before marching towards Circular Quay as part of the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice.
Events also took place in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Wollongong.
Twenty-two-year-old Miracle Temareti was among a strong Pacific islander contingent, attending the Sydney rally.
“Our people are losing their homes at the moment, and we feel as if us being here today is allowing us to fight for our people and have our voices heard,” she told SBS News.
“We are not drowning. We are fighting. We're not victims, we’re leaders and we’re resilient.”
She said there was disappointment among many Pacific islanders at the perceived lack of action by the federal government on climate.
“They call Australia home and just to not have the support of our leaders and our government is really upsetting because not only is this [Australia] our home, but [the Pacific is] our home as well.”
Protesters are calling for a moratorium on new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, and a transition to 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of the decade.
The list of demands includes a worldwide commitment to Indigenous land rights over mining rights.
Nineteen-year-old protester Varsha Yajman told SBS News the rally was “really important” to ensure that world leaders, and the Australian government, were held to account.
“We're on track for four degrees of global warming. It’s time to do change,” she said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison returned from Glasgow on Thursday, where he announced Australia’s commitment to net zero by 2050 with a “technology-led solution,” and signed on to a pledge to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
Elaine and Charlotte - both 15 - attended the Sydney rally to fight for a better future. Source: SBS News/Amelia Dunn
But activists were left disappointed, with the prominent presence of oil and gas companies at Australia’s COP26 display booth drawing criticism.
“I thought it was a waste of taxpayers’ money to pay for his flight,” Ms Yajman said.
“We could be putting all that money towards working towards renewable energy, towards a just transition.”
Maryjane Mckibbin Schwenke, Director at the Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts in Sydney, told the crowd her people were facing a “David and Goliath” battle to save not just their homes, but their heritage.
Her 21-year-old daughter is in Glasgow to help lobby for action on behalf of the Pasifika community.
“The climate crisis puts to risk the preservation of our Pacific islands and cultures, our Pacific values and traditions that are intrinsic to our being,” she said.
The Sydney protest was given an exemption to go ahead by New South Wales Health, under 'COVID-safe' restrictions, with attendees encouraged to wear masks and check-in via QR code.
Elsewhere, around a hundred climate protesters picketed the site of Wollongong Coal's Russell Vale mine in Illawarra, angered by the decision to expand the facility to extract 3.7 million tonnes of coal over the next five years.
Around 200 activists gathered outside the Victoria's State Library in Melbourne to voice their disapproval of the federal government's climate policies.
Earlier on Saturday morning, Extinction Rebellion staged a separate demonstration in St Kilda featuring a four-metre-high zombified koala puppet dubbed 'Blinky', which spewed smoke and cried out in pain.
The procession was accompanied by a rendition of Chopin's Funeral March and featured the movement's 'Red Rebels', dressed in red with white face paint.
Around 150 people are expected to rally this afternoon at Brisbane's King George Square.
Climate activists participated in an Extinction Rebellion protest in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda on Saturday. Source: AAP
The Australian climate rallies follow mass protests in Glasgow, the host city of the UN's COP26 climate summit, attended by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
She the summit as a “failure" and PR stunt, criticising the lack of meaningful commitments to climate action.
"This is no longer a climate conference," she said.
"This is now a global greenwashing festival."
Additional reporting by Amelia Dunn.
