by Luke Voogt
Senior Extinction Rebellion activists plan to push empty prams across Geelong on Friday protesting a “failure” to act on the “impending climate catastrophe”.
The activist grannies would march from Federal Corio MP Richard Marles’ office to City Hall protesting Labor’s and council’s “climate policy failures”, organiser Erica Hunt said.
“The ALP has abandoned its grassroots, it has sold out to big coal and has joined the LNP in climate double speak,” she said.
“It’s buddying up to the government with policies which fail to recognise the true urgency of the climate emergency.
“Our march symbolises that we need to act now for the sake of future generations in Geelong and across the world.”
The protesters planned to target Mr Marles’ office over what they claimed was his “support” of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “call to criminalise non-violent climate protests”.
“Any such crackdown is anti-democratic and concerned citizens need to stand up and make our voices heard,” the group’s Tristan Drake said.
The group also planned to target City Hall after council voted 6-5 against declaring a climate change emergency in September.
“The Geelong council turned its back on science and the community,” Mr Drake said.
“With hundreds of fires raging across the country since early spring, governments need to acknowledge the threat posed by climate breakdown.”
Mr Marles was reluctant to provide commentary on the group but declared his support for non-violent protest.
“We ask people to use common sense,” he told the Indy.
“People in this country have a right to peaceful protest, but they don’t have a right to endanger the lives of others.”
Extinction Rebellion held a week of disruptive protests in Melbourne beginning on 7 October, including a ‘drown in’ and a large dance in some of the city’s busiest areas.
During an interview on the Today Show earlier this month Mr Marles described some climate protesters as “absolutely indulgent”.
“These are people who are not actually about a cause,” the deputy Labor leader said.
“They’re about engaging in a personal experience at the expense of Australians, in this case Victorians trying to get on with their lives.”
Mr Marles indicated the opposition would consider any proposed legislation by the government to limit protesters’ to damage businesses.
