Tens of thousands of students have taken to the streets nationwide to express their frustrations over the lack of government action to tackle climate change.
Rallies were held on Friday where students were encouraged to use a “climate doctor certificate” and take a sick day from school, citing concerns about global warming.
Several thousand people gathered at Melbourne’s Flagstaff Gardens before marching through the city centre.
Tens of thousands of students have taken to the streets nationwide to voice their frustrations over the lack of government action to tackle climate change
Rallies were held Friday encouraging students to use a “climate doctor certificate” and take a sick day from school to protest government inaction on climate change.
Students march through Melbourne’s CBD to call for climate action
Liam Cranley said he took his children Dario, eight, and Olive, 11, out of school to attend the March because they asked him if they could come along.
Mr Cranley said their school had no qualms about his children missing lessons and he believed it was important to take a stand as governments at all levels needed to accelerate action on climate change.
“We won’t be able to live here much longer if the heat continues to rise,” daughter Olive told AAP.
A group of students from Melbourne Girls’ College attended after a teacher heard about the meeting.
“I believe it is worth missing half a day of school just to make sure that the next generation can actually live and get an education here on our planet,” said Erin, student of group 7.
Groups of protesters in Melbourne blocked traffic as they staged sit-ins at several major intersections, stopping trams and vehicles.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in Sydney outside Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s office to sing chants of “shame” and “shift the power.”
As Australia prepares for another summer of extreme heat and bushfires, students said they were extremely disappointed with the Albanian government for not doing more since coming to power.
“I didn’t expect at least no new coal and gas – that’s very minimal demand, and we shouldn’t make it worse,” said 16-year-old Alexander Duggan.
‘I can’t name anyone in my year group who doesn’t think the climate sucks.
‘Governments want to pretend they are doing things, but things like the compensation scheme are only designed to make us think they are doing things – it doesn’t address the root causes.’
As Australia prepares for another summer of extreme heat and bushfires, students said they were extremely disappointed with the Albanian government for not doing more
Several thousand people gathered at Melbourne’s Flagstaff Gardens before marching through the city centre
Protesters have taken part in the School Strike 4 Climate rally in Sydney
School Strike 4 Climate organizer Nirvana Talukder said students have been fighting for the same demands since the first meetings in 2019.
“We want a government that cares for the lives of its people and the planet, not a government that funds a crisis that kills,” she told the crowd in Sydney.
Anjali Beames, 17, has been on strike from school all week and studying on the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide with other students from the South Australian Youth Climate Alliance.
“I am studying for my future, but I fear that without real action on climate change, my future will be bleak,” she said.
Many of the marches were deeply intertwined with First Nations concerns
Torres Strait Islander law student Chelsea Aniba traveled from Saibai to Melbourne, where she joined the student protest to explain how her people found themselves on the frontlines of climate change.
“It’s affecting our homes and our gardens, we can’t grow our traditional food the same way we used to,” she said.
“Even our seasons are changed.
‘And of course the most important one: sea levels are rising.’
Torres Strait Islander elders Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai are in Melbourne for hearings in the landmark lawsuit they filed against the Australian government over climate inaction and spoke at the strike.
Mr Pabai said he was happy to support the school strike to deliver a message to the government.
“I tell them, ‘help us,’” he said.
‘I say to them: ‘the time for politics must stop, you must take urgent action to protect us from climate change. If you don’t, we’ll lose everything.”
School Strike 4 Climate organizer Nirvana Talukder said students have been fighting for the same demands since the first rallies in 2019
Groups of protesters blocked traffic as they staged sit-ins at several major intersections, stopping trams and vehicles