An
estimated 20,000 protesters marched from Town Hall to Hyde Park on
Wednesday evening, taking over George Street to demand stronger climate
action as bushfires continue to rage across the state.
The event,
titled "NSW is Burning, Sydney is Choking - Climate Emergency Rally!",
was swiftly set up on Facebook last week by Extinction Rebellion, Uni
Students for Climate Justice, and Greens MP David Shoebridge, in response to horrendous air conditions and ongoing bushfires across the state.
Thousands of protesters gathered at Town Hall on Wednesday.Credit:Wolter Peeters
Buses
were diverted away from Elizabeth Street and Park Street because of the
march, with some buses delayed by up to 30 minutes and more than 60 routes affected.
After
a series of speeches, the crowd began marching down York Street at
6.40pm, before turning onto Park Street and heading east towards
Elizabeth Street and Hyde Park.
NSW Police Inspector Gary Coffey said "it’s a very big crowd", and later told the Herald there were an estimated 20,000 people in attendance.
Chloe Rafferty, one of the organisers, said she was angry about the lack of climate action from all levels of government.
"The
state is angry, Sydney is angry," she said. "I have hope that people
will see the need to take action into their own hands and disrupt
business as usual, we can't let the biggest city in Australia having
hazardous air quality become the new normal."
High school student
Amy Lamont addressed the thousands of protesters wearing P2 face masks
and said: "The reality is these fires will be around all summer."
"The
rage we all rightly feel right now needs to grow if we have any chance
of actually challenging that destruction of the status quo that is
burning around us," she said.
"Only we, the majority, have the ability to hold the rich and political elites in this country accountable.
"Students shouldn't have to worry when going to school that they might come back to a burnt home."
David Whitson has been attending protests dressed as a koala since October.
"When you talk about silent Australians, I don’t think of anything more silent than our beloved flora and fauna," he said.
The loss of wildlife, especially Koala Bears, were the focal point for this protest sign.Credit:Wolter PeetersHe
said he thought bushfires would occur early next year, but "it’s caught
everyone by surprise how early and severe the fires are".
Fire
Brigade Employees Union state secretary Leighton Drury has been a
firefighter for 20 years and said the fires ravaging NSW are the "worst
we’ve had in decades".
"Pope Francis used his first full day in Madagascar to hammer the same point home.
“Your
lovely island of Madagascar is rich in plant and animal biodiversity,
yet this treasure is especially threatened by excessive deforestation,
from which some profit,” Francis said Saturday in Madagascar’s capital,
Antananarivo, about an hour’s drive from the lemur reserve. “The last
forests are menaced by forest fires, poaching, the unrestricted cutting
down of valuable woodlands.”
Francis
has been making a similar case since his election in 2013, when he put
environmental protection and global warming at the top of his agenda. He
championed the Paris climate accord and, in 2015, became the first pope
to dedicate an encyclical to protecting the earth."
Conservation of our existing forests is essential to combat climate catastrophe. Whether the tree is in The Amazon or in NSW it is essential as carbon storage.
This short documentary depicts the beauty and unique ecosystem of the
Kalang area and the forests of north-eastern New South Wales, while
exposing the unsustainability of past and future logging operations and
the destruction of endangered wildlife habitats. What can you do to help protect this amazing biodiverse region and its
inhabitants?
- Support the proposed Great Koala National Park:
http://www.koalapark.org.au
- Sign the petition to protect this ancient native forest and its headwaters from logging on Change.org:
https://www.change.org/p/premier-of-n... - Spread the word and share this video !
Five-yearly report says climate change is escalating the threat and window of opportunity for action is now.
"The outlook for the Great Barrier Reef has deteriorated from poor to
very poor according to an exhaustive government report that warns the
window of opportunity to improve the natural wonder’s future “is now”.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s
outlook report, published every five years, finds coral reefs have
declined to a very poor condition and there is widespread habitat loss
and degradation affecting fish, turtles and seabirds.
It warns
the plight of the reef will not improve unless there is urgent national
and global action to address the climate crisis, which it described as
its greatest threat."
