By Abbey Cannan
Students, parents, educators, workers and families gathered in Maroochydore Rotary Park at Cotton Tree on Friday to voice a clear message to the Morrison Government, “Fund our future, not gas“.
Speakers at Friday’s event included the likes of Noosa Councillor Dr Brian Stockwell.
“Since the seventies, we’ve known fossil fuel pollution causes global warming,“ Dr Stockwell said. “But for the last fifty years, politicians have been asleep at the wheel.
“In 2019, we in the Noosa Council declared a Climate Emergency. We committed to meaningful action to become carbon neutral by 2026.
“If we want a better future for our youth, we have to listen to their demands for a cleaner future.”
The Sunshine Coast event was one of dozens of School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) actions across the country and supported by Australian Parents for Climate Action (AP4CA).
Spokesperson for AP4CA Sunshine Coast, Yolanda Dasgupta, said, “We are striking to tell the Morrison Government that if they care about the future of kids in this country, they must stop funding and supporting gas.“
“Gas is fuelling the climate crisis, devastating our land and water and wrecking our health.
“The new $600 million taxpayer-funded, gas-fired power station just announced in NSW is a massive handout to the fossil fuel industry but creates very few jobs. The International Energy Agency has clearly stated that if governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now.”
Ms Dasgupta, said “We have a chance to create a sustainable recovery from Covid-19. Anything less is short sighted at best and negligent at worst.”
Speakers at Friday’s event included Adrian Whitehead, Co-Founder, Beyond Zero Emissions and Director, Council and Community Action in the Climate Emergency; Qld Representative on the Strategic Advisory Board of Climate Emergency Australia, and Logan Costa, Student and Member of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.
