Media release – Extinction Rebellion, 16 March 2023
Get off our lawn: ABC manager to climate activists
3.30 today, ABC management in Launceston ordered a group of climate activists to leave the studio lawn, threatening to call police.
“We were about to call the police ourselves because it would reinforce our message,” said spokesperson Ros Lewis, “but we decided that on this occasion we were more interested in progressing our dialogue with the national broadcaster. That’s when we regrouped nearby.”
“The ABC is about news and the climate crisis is the biggest news in town,” said spokesperson Jeff McKinnon. “We are not getting much local coverage with the ABC. All the other Tasmanian media cover our actions.”
“Our message is about solutions,” he said. “Our government must tell the truth. This crisis demands a new set of national priorities.
“Australia must ban all new coal and gas exploration and phase out all fossil fuel exports and domestic use. The planet is in crisis and Australia is one of the main villains.”
Reference BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57925798
“In a world racing to reduce pollution, Australia is a stark outlier.
It is one of the dirtiest countries per head of population and a massive global supplier of fossil fuels. Unusually for a rich nation, it also still burns coal for most of its electricity.”
To quote Extinction Rebellion’s 3 demands:
- Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
- Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
- Government must create and be led by the decisions of a citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice.
